


IMPROVED BY 

EB.ME 

cJltechism of 






^ 



,'^' 



Or, an account of the Rcligim, CwU Qovernnient, ^ 

Military and Naval Affairs, Games, Najnes, ^ 

Coins, Weights <£ Measures, Dress, Food, "'' 

Exercises, Baths, Marriages, ffc, dr. 

.^ITH ENGRAVED ILLUSTRATIONS. 

RKVISJlD ^XD IMPROrfiD 

By M. J. KERNEY, A. M. 

Author of Compend:ium oS Ancient and Mmitm 
\ Bistort/, (f:c. 

J AiJapted fo tlipeof Schools in tlie Unitd States. 

BALTIMORE: 

KELLY & PIET, 

^ PUBLISHERS, 

i^ IT^Baltimore St. 



# LI BRARY OF CONGRE SS. j| 

# # 

! UNITED STATES OF AMKKICA.f 



M. 4^ 




CORONA NAVALIS 



CA.TECHISM 

OF * 

ROMAN ANTIQUITIES; 

OR, AN ACCOUNT OF 

THE RELIGION, CIVIL GOVERNMENT, MILITARY AND NAVAL 
AFFAIRS, GAMES, NAMES, COINS, WEIGHTS AND MEA- 
SURES, DRESS, FOOD, EXERCISES, BATHS, DOMESTIC 
EMPLOYMENTS, MARRIAGES, FUNERALS, AND 
OTHER CUSTOMS AND CEREMONIES OF 

THE ROMAN PEOPLE; 

WITH A DESCRIPTION OF 

THE PUBLIC BUILDINGS OF THE CITY OF BOMB. 
WITH ENGRAVED ILLUSTRATIONS. 

A New Edition, Revised and Enlarged. 
By M. J. KERNEY, Esq., 

AOTHOR OF COMPSMDIUM OP ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY, ETC., ETC., ETC, 

Adapted to the Uso of Schools in the United States. 

*^ Tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento; 

Hae tibi erunt artes; pacisque imponere morem ; 
Parcere subjectis, et debellare superbos. — Virgil. 

/ 

BALTIMORE: 
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY KELLY & PIET, 

No, 174 Baltimore Street. 
1868. 




^ 



a' 



" Kfr^ 



Entored, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1867, ^y 

KELLY & PIET, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for 
the District of Maryland. 



PREFACE, 



The long established reputation of Ir- 
ving's Catechisms precludes the necessity 
of adding any comments on their merits. 
The very extensive circulation which they 
have had, not only in England, but also in 
this country, is the best proof of their utility. 
The plan of his works is the very best that 
could be adopted. The Catechetical form of 
instruction is now admitted, by the most ex- 
perienced teachers, to be the best adapted to 
the nature and capacity of youth, — a system 
by which children will acquire a knowledge 
of a science in less time than by any other. 

The following treatise on Roman Antiqui- 
ties will be found peculiarly interesting to the 

(iii) 



iv • PREFACE. 

classical student. For his benefit it was 
chiefly intended, and years of experience 
prove that it is well adapted to the end for 
which it was designed. A familiarity with 
the laws, manners, and customs of the ancient 
nations w^ill render clear and explicit the most 
obscure passages, so frequently met with in 
the authors of antiquity. 

The present edition has been carefully re- 
vised and somewhat enlarged ; these improve* 
ments, it is hoped, will render the work still 
more deserving of that patronage which has 
already been extended to it. 



CONTENTS. 



BOOK I. 



Civil Government of the Romans. 

CHAPTER PAG»^ 

I. The City of Rome, 8 

II. Division of the Inhabitants, 17 

III. Of the Senate, 21 

IV. Of Magistrates in general, .27 

V. Kings, 30 

VI. Consuls, 31 

VII. Praetors, 34 

Vni. Censors, 36 

IX. Tribunes of the People, .39 

X. iEdiles, .41 

XI. Quaestors, 43 

Xn. Dictator and Master of Horse, ..... 46 

XIII. The Decemvirs, Military Tribunes, and In- 

terrex, 47 

XIV. Provincial Magistrates, 49 

XV. Rights of Roman Citizens, 60 

XVI. Assemblies of the People, 64 

XVII. Laws, Judicial Proceedings, and Punish- 
ments of the Romans, 68 



VI CONTENDS. 



BOOK II. 

7^ he Religion of the Romans 

CHAPTER PAQB 

I. Roman Priests and their Offices, .... 64 

II. Places of Sacred Worship, Kites and Sacri- 

fices of the Romans, 70 

III. Roman Festivals, 76 

IV. Roman Games, . . . .' 80 

V. Computation of Time, 84 

BOOK III. 

Militalry and Naval Affairs of the Romans, 

I. Division of the Army, their Armor and 

Weapons, 87 

tl. Military Rewards and Triumphs, . . . .92 

III. Military Affairs, continued, 96 

IV. Naval Affairs of the Romans, 98 

BOOK IV. 

Customs of the Romans. 

I. The Romaii Dress, . 100 

II. Roman Meals, 103 

III. Exercises, Baths, and Private Games, . . 104 

IV. Marriages and Funerals, 105 

V. Names, Coins, Weights, and Measures, . .111 

VI. Houses, Villas, Carriages, and Agriculture 

of the Romans, 114 

Table of Kalends, Nones, and Ides, 119 



A CATECHISM 



ROMAN ANTiaUITIES. 



BOOK I. 



Question. What is meant by Eoman anti- 
quities ? 

Answer, Eoman antiquities imply an ac- 
count of the manners and customs of the 
Eoman people. 

Q, Who were the Eomans ? 

A, The Eomans were a warlike people, who 
built a city in Latium, a territory of Italy, and 
called it Eome, after Eomulus, their leader, 
about 753 years before the Christian era. 

Q. From whom were the Eomans de- 
scended ? 

A. According to the poets, the Eomans 
were descended from ^neas, a Trojan prince, 
who fled from his native country after the 
destruction of Troy, and arrived in Italy, 
where he was kindly received by Latinus, 

(7) 



8 GATEcrlii^M or 

king of the Latins, wlio gave him his daugh- 
ter in marriage. 

Q, What are the advantages derived from 
a knowledge of Eoman antiquities ? 

A, The knowledge of the Eoman custom^ 
is not only curious in .itself, but absolutely 
necessary for understanding the classics, and 
for reading with advantage the history of that 
celebrated people. 



CHAPTER I. 

The City of Borne, 

Q. Where was Rome built ? 

A. Rome was built on the banks of the 
river Tiber, on seven hills.' 

Q. By whom was the city founded ? 

A, By Romulus and Remus, from the for- 
mer of whom it received its name. 

Q. What were the names of these hills ?. 

A. The hills on which Rome stood were 
called Palaiinus, Gapitolinus, Aventinus, Quiri- 
nalis, Coelius, Viviinalis, and Esquilinus; as the 
city increased in size, three others were added 
— the Janiculumj VaticanuSj and Hortulorum, 

Q, What was the extent and population of 
the city of* Rome? 

-4. Rome was at first nearly square, con- 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 9 

taining about 1000 houses, and was almost a 
mile in circumference; but in its most flour- 
ishing state the walls surrounded a space of 
50 miles, and it reckoned 4,000,000 of inhab- 
itants. 

Q, How many gates had Eome ? 

A. The gates of Kome at the death of 
Romulus, were four ; but at length it had no 
less than 37, the principal of which were IVi- 
umphalis, Usguilina, Flaminia, Carmentalis, 
Quirinalis, and Viminalis, 

Q. How was the city divided ? 

A, Romulus divided the city into three 
tribes; to these, Servius TuUus added a fourth, 
but Augustus found it necessary, for the better 
order and -government of the city, to divide 
it into 14 regions or wards. 

Q. What were the chief public buildings 
of the Romans ? 

A. Rome abounded with magnificent build- 
ings, the chief of which will be included 
under the following heads: 1, temples; 2, 
theatres, amphitheatres, and places for exer- 
cise or amusement ; 3, buildings* for the as- 
semblies of the people ; 4, public places ; 5, 
piazzas or porticos ; 6, columns ; 7, triumphal 
arches and trophies; 8, aqueducts; 9, public 
sewers ; and 10, high roads. 

Q, What w^ere the principal temples? 



10 CATECHISM OP 

A. The chief temples were the Capitol, the 
PantheoH; the temple of Janus, and that of 
Saturn. 

Q, By whom was the Capitol built ? 

A. The Capitol; or temple of Jupiter Capi- 
tolinus, was built by Tarquinius Superbus, 
the last king of Kome, with the spoils taken 
from the neighboring States ; it was several 
times destroyed by fire, and as frequently 
rebuilt. Domitian raised the last and most 
splendid of all, in which the gilding alone 
amounted to nearly £4000 sterling. 

T, Describe the Capitol. 

P. The Capitol was in the form of a square, 
extending nearly 200 feet on each side ; it was 
the highest part of the city, and strongly for- 
tified; the ascent to it was by 100 steps; the 
front was adorned with three rows of pillars, 
and the sides with two; the gates were of 
brass, and the tiles gilt. 

Q, Was this temple wealthy ? 

J.. The prodigious gifts and ornaments 
with which it was occasionally endowed, 
almost exceed belief. Augustus presented to 
it at one time, 2000 pounds weight of gold, 
and jewels to the value of £2,000,000 ster- - 
ling ; a few vestiges of this building still re- 
main. 

T. Describe the Pantheon. 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 11 

P, The Pantheon was built by Agrippa, 
son-in-law to Augustus, and dedicated to all 
the gods ; it is of a circular form, and has no 
windows; but its roof, which is in the shape 
of a dome, has an opening on the top for the 
admission of light. 

Q. Of what materials were the roof and 
walls ? 

A, The top v/as covered with silver plates, 
but their place is now supplied with lead ; 
the walls in the inside were either solid mar- 
ble, or incrusted; the front on the outside 
was covered with brazen plates gilt ; and the 
gate was of brass, of extraordinary work and 
size. 

Q, Does this temple still exist ? 

A . Yes ; it is now called the Rotunda, and is 
a Christian church consecrated to the Blessed 
Virgin and All Saints. The ascent to it for- 
merly was by twelve steps ; bat now you de- 
scend to it by the same number of steps, the 
earth around being raised by the demolition 
of houses. 

Q. Why is the temple of Saturn deserving 
of notice? 

A. The temple of Saturn served for the 
public treasury, as being the most secure 
place in the city ; here were preserved the 
military ensigns, among which were the pub- 



12 CATECHISM OF 

lie records and registers, the great ivory tables, 
containing a list of all the tribes, and the 
books containing the public accounts. 

Q, What other remarkable temple have 
you to describe ? 

A. The temple of Janus was remarkable 
for its two brazen gates, one on each side, 
which were to be open in time of war, and 
shut in time of peace. 

Q. Were there many other temples besides 
these ? 

A. Yes, there were numerous temples dedi- 
cated to Apollo, Juno, Mars, and other gods; 
there were also buildings called curise, where 
the inhabitants of each curia or ward, met to 
perform divine service. 

Q, What was the form of the theatres ? 

A. The theatres were of a semicircular 
form, sometimes so large as to contain 80,000 
persons; the seats rose one above another, 
and were divided into three ranges, appropri- 
ated to the senators, knights, and commons. 

Q. What Avere the amphitheatres ? 

A. Amphitheatres were buildings of a 
round or oval shape, appropriated to the 
greater shows of gladiators, wild beasts, &c. 

Q. What was the circus ? 

A, The circus was a place used for the cel- 
ebration of chariot races and other popular 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 13 

sports, and for making harangues; it was 
usually oblong, with ranges of seats for the 
convenience of the spectators. 

Q. Which was the most remarkable circus ? 

A, The most remarkable was the Circus 
Maximus: it was a mile in circumference, 
containing seats for 150,000 spectators, and 
wfs extremely beautiful. 

T. -Describe the naumachiw. 

P, The nawnachise were places for exhib- 
iting naval engagements, built nearly in the 
form of a circus ; some of them were of such 
amazing extent, that considerable fleets en- 
gaged in them without inconvenience. 

Q, What was the principal public place ? 

A, The principal public place in Eome was 
the Forum Romanum, and Campus Martiu.s, 
or Field of Mars, was without the city. 

T, Describe the Forum. 

P. The Forum was a large oblong open 
space, where the assemblies of the people 
were held, where justice was administered, 
and public business transacted ; it was en- 
tirely surrounded with arched porticos, with- 
in which were spacious halls, called hasilie'se, 
where courts of justice might sit for the de- 
cision of private affairs. 

Q. What was the Campus Martins ? 

A. The Campus Martins was a large plain 

2 



14 CATECHISM OF 

along the Tiber, where the E-oraan youth 
practised all kinds of feats of activity, and 
learned the use of arms ; it was adorned with 
the statues of famous men, and with triumphal 
arches, columns, porticos, and other magnifi^ 
cent structures. 

T. Describe the piazzas. ^ 

P, The piazzas, or porticos, were among 
the most splendid ornaments of the city, be- 
ing supported on marble pillars, and adorned 
with statues. 

Q, What was their use ? 

A, They were chiefly used for walking and 
riding under cover: under these also authors 
recited their works,- and philosophers dis- 
puted. 

Q. What were the most remarkable col- 
umns or pillars ? 

A, Many pillars were erected at Eome in 
honor of great men, or to commemorate illus- 
trious actions; the most remarkable are those 
of Trajan and Antoninus Pius. 

T. Describe the former. 

P. Trajan's pillar, which is still standing 
in the middle of a forum, is composed of 24 
pieces of marble, so curiously cemented as to 
appear but one ; its height is 128 feet, and it 
has in the inside, 185 steps for ascending to 
the top, and forty windows for the admission 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 15 

of light; its diameter at the bottom is 12 
feet, and at the top 10 feet. 

Q, How is it ornamented ? 

A, On the pillar are represented the war- 
like exploits of Trajan and his army ; on the 
top was a colossal statue of that emperor^ 20 
feet high, holding in his left hand a sceptre, 
and in his right a hollow globe of gold con- 
taining his ashes; but this has been taken 
down, and a statue of St. Peter erected in its 
place. 

Q. What have you to observe of the pillar 
of Antoninus? 

A, This is another of the most precious 
remains of antiquity; the sculpture and other 
ornaments resemble those on Trajan's pillar, 
but the workmanship is greatly inferior ; it 
is 176 feet high, the steps of ascent are 106, 
and the windows 56. 

Q, What were triumphal arches ? 

A. Triumphal arches were erected in honor 
of illustrious generals who had gained signal 
victories in war; several of them are still 
standing. 

T. Describe their materials and form. 

P. At first they were built of brick or 
stone, but afterwards of marble; they had a 
large arched gate in the middle, and two 
small ones on each side, ornamented with 



i6 CATECHISM OP 

columns and statues, and various figures done 
in sculpture. 

Q. What are trophies ? 

A. Trophies were spoils taken from the 
enemy, and fixed upon anything as monu- 
ments of victory. 

Q, What afforded the noblest proofs of 
Roman grandeur ? 

A, The aqueducts were, by far, the noblest 
proofs of the grandeur of the empire ; some 
of these wonderful channels brought water 
from upwards of 60 miles, through rocks and 
mountains, and over valleys; supported on 
arches in some places above 100 feet high, 
one row being placed above another. 

Q. What next deserves our attention ? 

A. The common sewers were subterranean 
channels, constructed with amazing strength, 
to carry the filth of the city into the Tiber. 

Q, What else have you to remark of them? 

A. Agrippa caused seven streams to meet 
together underground in one channel, with 
such a rapid current as to carry all before it ; 
sometimes when these streams were swelled 
with immoderate rains, they carried away 
huge pieces of stone and timber, yet the fab- 
ric received no detriment; sometimes terrible 
earthquakes shook the foundations of the 
city, but these channels remained impreg- 
nable. 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 1^ 

Q, Did fhe Eomans pay much attention to 
tHeir roads ? 

A, Yes; the public ways were among the 
greatest of the Eoman works, and were made 
with amazing labor and expense. 

2\ Describe one of these roads. 

P. The Via Appia^ was perhaps the most 
noble ; it was carried to a distance of 350 
miles, and was made of stones from one to 
five feet square, but so artfully joined as to 
seem one, under which there were two layers 
— the first of rough stones cemented with 
mortar, and the second of gravel. 



CHAPTER II. 

Division of the Inhabitants. 

Q. How were the inhabitants of Rome di- 
vided. 

A, Romulus, soon after the foundation of 
Rome, divided the inhabitants into three triheSy 
and each tribe into ten cunw; but the number 
of tribes was by degrees increased to 35. 

Q, Was there any other division of tlie 
Roman people? 

* Although this road has been constructed upwards 
of 2000 years, in several places it remains entire to this 
day. 

2* B 



l^r CATECHISM OF 

A. Yes ; they were also divided into two 
t-anks, Gslled patricians and plebeians, to wMch 
smother order was afterwards added, called 
tquites, 

Q. Who were the patricians ? 

A. Tie patricians were so called from tile 
patresj or fathers, who composed the senate ; 
they were likewise called patrones, or pa- 
trons. 

Q, Who were the plebeians ? 

A. The plebeians were so called from plehsy 
the common people ; they were also termed 
clientesy or clients. 

Q. Why were the patricians called j^airones, 
and the plebeians clientes ? 

A. Because the patricians were appointed 
to watch over and protect the plebeians, and 
were their counsellors and advocates ; while 
the plebeians, who Avere obliged to choose 
patrons, were expected to serve them with 
fidelity, to pay them all possible deference, 
and even to assist them with money, if re- 
quisite. 

Q, Who were th^ equites ? 

A. The equites, or knights, did not at first 
form a distinct order in the State ; they were 
chosen into the equestrian order by the cen- 
sor, and presented with a horse at the public 
expense, and with a gold ring; they were 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 19 

taken promiscuously from among such of tho 
patricians and plebeians as had attained their 
eighteenth year, and whose fortune amounted 
to £3,229. 

Q, What were the other distinctions of the 
Roman people ? 

A, Among the Romans there were 7iohiles, 
nov'i, and ignohiles ; also ingenui, liberti, and 
Uberli7ii. 

Q. Who were those among the Romans 
who were called nohiles? 

A. The iioliles were those whose ancestors 
had held the ofl&ce of consul, praetor, censor, 
or curule sedile ; they had a right to make 
images of themselves, which were kept with 
care by their descendants, and were carried 
out at funerals. 

Q. Who were those termed novi? 

A. Those who were the first of their family, 
who had raised themselves to any of the above 
ofl&ces, were denominated homines novi, new 
men, or upstarts. 

Q. Who were the ignohiles ? 

A. The Romans called those ignohiles who 

Note. — The images of the nobiles were only busts 
made of wax and painted ; they were placed in the 
courts of their houses, and never brought out to view, 
except on solemn occasions ; below them were inscribed 
the honors they had enjoyed, and the exploits they had 
performed. 



2&, CATECHISM OF 

t 

had no images of their own, or of their an- 
cestors. 

"' Q. What is the meaning of the distinctions 
ingemti, liherti, and lihertini? 

A. 'They whose parents had always been 
free, were called ingemti; slaves who had 
been made free were called liherti, and liher- 
tini. 

Q, Had the Eoman people slaves ? 

A. The Eomans had slaves, who not only 
did all domestic services, but were likewise 
employed in various trades and manufac- 
tures. 

Q. How did men become slaves ? 

A. Men became slaves by being taken in 
war, by being born in a state of servitude, 
or criminals were reduced to slavery by way 
of punishment. 

Q. At whose disposal were the Eoman 
slaves? 

A, The Eoman slaves were publicly sold 
in a market-place, and were at the absolute 
disposal of the buyer, not being esteemed as 
persons, but as things of effects. 

Q. Have you any other division of the 
Eoman people to remark ? 

A, Yes; among the Eomans, those who 
endeavored to ingratiate themselves with the 
people were called populares; while those 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 



21 



who favored the interests of the senate, and 
the passions of the great, received the appel- 
lation of the opiimates,-— but this was a dis- 
tinction of party, and not of rank or dignity. 



CHAPTER III. 

Of the Senate. 

Q. What was the senate ? 

A. The senate was the chief council of 
State in Eome, or a body of magistrates 
intrusted with the care of putting the laws 
into execution. 

Q. By whom was this body first instituted ? 

A, The senate was instituted by Romulus, 
to be the perpetual council of his newly- 
formed State. 

Q, Of whom was it first composed ? 

A, The senate, at its creation, consisted of 
100 persons, whom Romulus chose from 
among such of the inhabitants as were most 
illustrious for their birth, wisdom, and integ- 
rity. 

Q, What name was given to the senators? 

A, The senators were called patres, or 
fathers, on account of their age, gravity, and 
the paternal care they had of the State. 

Q, Was their number afterwards increased ? 



22 CATECHISM OP 

A. Under the successors of EomuluS; and 
in the time of the republic, the number of 
senators was by degrees increased to upwards 
of 1000, but Augustus reduced them to 600. . 
, Q, By whom was the senate chosen. 

A. The kings had, at first, the sole right ■ 
of naming the senators; but they were after- 
wards chosen by the consuls, and at last by 
the censors only. 

Q, From what orders were the senate 
chosen ? 

A. At first only patricians were admitted i 
to a seat in the senate; but afterwards the 
plebeians and equites were admitted. 

Q. What were the qualifications necessary 
to be a senator ? 

A, Those who were appointed senators, 
were to be possessed of an estate of not less 
than £9,175 sterling, and to be upwards of 
30 years of age. 

Q. How did the senators obtain their seats? 

A, They were nominated and enrolled by 
the censors; besides which, several great 
offices qualified those who filled them, for a* 
place in the senate; and military services ^ 
sometimes procured admission. 

Q. What disqualified persons from sitting 
in the senate ? i 

A, Besides a want of sufficient revenue; no 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. ^8 

one could sit there who had exercised a low 
trade, or whose father had been a slave. 

Q. AVhat were the badges of distinction ? 

A, The senators were distinguished by an 
oblong stripe of purple, sewed on the for-e- 
part of their senatorial gown ; and black 
buskins reaching to the middle of the leg, 
with the letter in silver on the top of the 
foot. 

Q. What were their privileges ? 

A, The chief privilege of the senators was 
their having a particular place at the public 
spectacles, called orchestra; it was Dext the 
stage in the theatre, and next the arena, or 
open space, in the amphitheatre. 

Q, By whom was the senate assembled ? 

A, The senate was assembled at first by the 
kings, and after their expulsion, by the consuls 
and praetors ; it could also be summoned by 
the tribunes of the people, even against the 
will of the consuls. 

Q. Did the power of the senate continue 
the same at difterent periods ? 

A, It did not; the kings were said at one 
time to act according to the counsel of the 
senate ; afterwards Tarquin banished or put 
to death the senators as he chose, and again, 
after the regal government was abolished, 
the power of the senate was raised to its 
highest pitch. 



24 CATECHISM OF 

Q, Where was the senate held ? 

A. The senate could be held only in a 
temple, that is, a place consecrated by the 
augurs ; it was assembled commonly within 
the city, but it met without the walls for the '' 
reception of foreign ambassadors, and of their 
own generals, who were never permitted to 
come within the walls while in actual com- 
mand. 

Q, What times were appointed for its 
meeting ? 

A. The senate assembled usually three 
times a month, but was often called together 
on other days for the dispatch of business; 
and in it nothing could be done before the 
rising nor after the setting of the sun. 

Q, How did the senate begin its sitting ? 

A, Before the business of the senate com- 
menced, the consul, or magistrate who pre- 
sided, oftered a sacrifice ; and on entering the 
senate-house, the members rose to do him 
honor ; he then proposed the business to 
them. 

Q. What were the matters on which the 
senate was consulted ? 

A. The senate was consulted on every- 
thing pertaining to the administration of the 
State, except the creation of magistrates, the 
passing of laws, and the determination of 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 25 

war or peace ; all which properly belonged 
to the Eoman people. 

Q, How was the opinion of the senators 
taken ? 

A, The magistrate presiding asked {he 
opinion of every member individually, begin- 
ning with the oldest senator, or with the con- 
suls elect ; and all that pleased stood up, and 
gave their judgment upon the point; but 
when they only assented to the opinion of 
another, they continued sitting. 

Q, What liberty did the different orators 
enjoy ? 

A. They who addressed the senate had 
the privilege of speaking as long as they 
pleased, and of introducing in their speech 
many things foreign to the subject, so that 
when any member wished to hinder the pass- 
ing of a decree, he protracted his speech till 
after sunset. 

Q, How was this abuse prevented ? 

A. As it was not lawful for the consul to 
interrupt an orator, those who abused this 
right were sometimes forced to desist from 
speaking by the noise and clamor of the 
other senators. 

Q. In what manner was the debate de- 
cided ? 

A. When as many as wished to address 
3 



26 CATECHISM OF 

the senate had concluded, the presiding 
magistrate made a short report of their sev- 
eral opinions, and then ordered the senate to 
divide one party to one side of the house, and 
the opposite to the other ; the number being 
told, a majority decided the debate. 

Q, What was next done? 

A. After the division of the senate, a 
decree was made out according to the opin- 
ion of the majority, and the names of those 
who had been most anxious for the decree 
were usually prefixed to it; it was then 
taken to the tribunes of the people, for their 
approbation or rejection. 

Q, What name was given to a decree of 
the senate ? 

A. When the opinions of the senators were 
asked, as related above, the decree Vas termed 
senai'us consultum ; but when in cases of little 
concern, or such as required expedition, a 
decree was made without any opinions being 
asked, it was called senatiis consultum per dis- 
cessionerri. 

Q, What circumstances could impede the 
passing of a decree ? 

A, A decree could be prevented from pass- 
ing the senate by the interposition of the tri- 
bunes of the commons ; it might be done also 
by -a magistrate of equal authority with him 



ROMAN ANTIQTJITIHS. 2? 

who proposed the business, or when the num- 
ber of senators required by law was not 
present. 

Q. "Were the sittings of the senate public 
or private? 

A. The proceedings of the senate were 
private till Julius Coesar appointed that they 
should be published. When affairs of secrecy 
were discussed, the clerks and other attend- 
ants were not admitted ; but what passed was 
written by some of the senators. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Of Magistrates in General. 

Q. What was the office of a magistrate 
amono* the Romans ? 

o 

A. A magistrate in the Roman republic 
was a person invested with public authority, 
either religious, civil, or military; so that 
the same person might act as a priest and 
judge, regulate the police of the city, direct 
the affairs of the empire, and command an 
army. 

Q. What was the manner of appointing 
magistrates in Rome ? 

A, The magistrates of Rome were elective ; 



28 CATECHtSM 6t 

and, previous to their election, they were 
called candidatij from a white shining robe 
which they wore while soliciting the votes 
of the people. 

Q, What was necessary to be a candi- 
date? 

A. The candidate for an office was obliged 
to be present in person, and to be approved 
by the magistrates ; he declared his intention 
generally a year before the election ; and the 
interval was spent in securing his friends, and 
gaining the favor of the people by every pop- 
ular art. 

Q. What division do you make of the 
Roman magistrates? 

A, The Roman magistrates were variously 
divided: the most proper and commodious 
division is into ordinary^ extraordinary^ and 
j)rovincial. 

Q. What do you understand by the term 
ordinary ? 

A, The magistrates in Rome, called ordi- 
nary, were those who were created at stated 
times, and were constantly in the republic. 

T. Name the ordinary magistrates. 

P. The chief ordinary magistrates were tlie 
consuls, praetors, censors, tribunes, lediles, and 
quaestors. 

Q. Who were those called extraordinary ? 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. ' 2S 

A. The extraordinary magistrates were 
such as were not constantly and statedly 
elected in the republic, but arose out of 
some public disorder or emergency. 

T. Name the extraordinary magistrates. 

P. The extraordinary magistrates were the 
dictator and master of horse, the decemvi]"], 
military tribunes, and interrex. 

Q. Why were the others called provinci- 
ales ? 

A, The magistrates of Eome were so 
termed when they were appointed to the 
government of a province, or distant part of 
the empire. 

Q, From what orders were the magistrates 
chosen ? 

A. In the beginning of the Eoman repub- 
lic, the magistrates were chosen only from the 
patricians; but afterwards, indiscriminately 
i'rom the other orders. 

Q. What was required of the Roman 
magistrates ? 

A. All magistrates were obliged, within 
five days after entering on their office, to 
swear that they would observe the laws ; and 
after the expiration of their office, they might 
be brought to trial, if they had done any- 
thing amiss. 
3* 



30 * CATfcCHISM JDJ' 



CHAPTER V; 
Kings. 

Q, Were the kings the earliest chief magis- 
trates among the Romans ? 

A, Yes : after the foundation of Rome, the 
inhabitants elected Romulus, their founder, 
for their supreme magistrate or king. 

Q. How long did this government con- 
tinue ? 

A. The regal government subsisted in 
Rome for 243 years, under seven kings. 
Tarquin, surnamed t^e Proud, the last of 
the kings, was expelled from Rome with his 
family, on account of his own tyranny and 
cruelty, and for the violence and brutal 
behavior of his son. 

Q. What power did the kings of Rome 
enjoy ? 

A. The kings of Rome were not absolute 
or hereditary, but limited and elective : tbey 
could neither enact laws nor make war or 
peace, without the concurrence of the senate 
and people. 

Q. What were the emblems of their au- 
thority ? 

A. The kings of Rome wore a white robe, 
adorned with stripes of purple or fringed 



kOMAN ANTIQUITIES. 31 

with the same color, also a golden crown; 
they carried an ivory sceptre in their hand, 
atid sat upon a curide chair; besides these, 
they were attended by 12 lictors, each carry- 
ing i\ie fasces, ■ 

Q, What was the curule chair ? 

A, The curule chair was a seat of state 
made or adorned with ivory ; the chief magis- 
trates sat on it in their tribunal, on all solemn 
occasions, and took it with them in their 
chariot to the senate-house. 

Q, What were the fasces? 

A. The fasces were bundles of rods, with 
an axe stuck in the middle. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Consuls. 

Q. Who were the consuls ? 

A. The consuls were two magistrates in- 
trusted with the regal power, who, after the 
expulsion of the kings, were created annu- 
ally, that they might not become insolent by 
the length of their command. 

Q, What were the emblems of their au- 
thority ? 



3^ CATECHISM 01' 

A, The emblems of authority of the con- 
suls were the same as those of the kings, 
except the crown ; the lictors went befofe 
one of them only, and that alternately, and 
generally for the space of a month. 

Q. What was the power of the two con- 
sals? 

A. The consuls were the supreme magis- 
trates of the Roman republic ; and all others 
were subject to them, except the tribunes of 
the commons; they assembled the people 
and the senate, passed laws, and executed 
their decrees ; they received all letters from 
governors of provinces, and from foreign 
princes, and gave audience to ambassadors. 

Q. What were the other duties of consuls ? 

A. In time of war, the consuls possessed 
supreme command, and usually drew lots to 
determine which should remain in Rome ; 
they levied soldiers, nominated the greater 
part of the officers, and provided what was 
necessary for their support. 

Q. Were not the consuls sometimes endued 
with extraordinary power ? 

A. In dangerous conjectures, the consuls 
were armed by the senate with absolute 
power, by the solemn decree : That the con- 
suls take care the public receive no harm. 

Q, What was their conduct in an insurrec- 
tion? 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 83 

A, In any sudden tumult or sedition, the 
consuls called the Koman citizens to arms in 
these words: Let those who wish to save the 
republic, follow me! and they soon found 
themselves enabled to repress sedition, and 
to resist the enemies of the republic. 

Q, What restraint was there to the power 
of the consuls ? 

A. The power of the consuls was chiefly 
diminished by the creation of tribunes of the 
commons, who could give a negative to all 
their proceedings ; an appeal also lay from 
their judgment to the people; and they had 
not the power of condemning a citizen to 
death. 

Q, What honors did the consuls enjoy ? 

A, When the consuls Appeared in public, 
every one cleared the way, uncovered the 
head, dismounted from horseback, or rose up 
to them as they passed by ; the laws which 
they proposed, and which were passed, were 
usually called by their name. 

Q. When were the consuls elected ? 

A. The consuls were elected about the end 
of July; and from that time to the 1st of 
January, when they entered an office, they 
made themselves acquainted with its duties. 

Q, What were the requisites for enjoying 
the consulship ? 

G 



34 CATECHISM OF 

A. To be a candidate for the consulsliip; it 
was requisite to be 48 years of age ; to have ■ 
gone through, the inferior offices of quaestor, . 
sedile, and praetor; and to be present, in ai 
private station. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Prcetors, 

Q. Who was the praetor ? 

A, The praetor was a Eoman magistrate, 
who attended to the administration of jus- 
tice. • 

Q, Why was the dignity of praetor insti- 
tuted ? 

A, When the consuls, engaged in almost 
continual wars, could not attend to the 
administration of justice, a magistrate was 
chosen for that purpose, to whom the name 
of praetor was appropriated. 

Q, What rank did the praetor enjoy in the 
commonwealth ? 

A, The praetor was next in dignity to the 
consuls, and in their absence he supplied their i 
place ; there was at first but one praetor, but 
their number was afterwards increased. 

Q. What were the insignia of the praetor ?'; 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 35 

A. The praetor was attended by two lictors, 
in the city, who went before him with the 
fasces, and six lictors without the city; he 
wore alsO; like the consuls, the toga prsetexia^ 
a white robe fringed with purple. 

Q. What was the office of the praetor ? 

A, The praetor presided in the assemblies 
of the people, and might convene the senate 
upon an emergency ; he likewise exhibited 
certain public games, and had particular 
jurisdiction over players. 

Q, What have you to observe of his judi- 
cial capacity? 

A, When the praetor entered upon his 
office, he swore to the observance of the laws, 
and published his edict or system of rules, 
according to which he was to administer 
justice. 

Q, Where did the praetor sit to administer 
justice ? 

A. When the praetor heard causes, he sat 
in the forum, on a movable tribunal, made 
of wood, in which was placed his curule 
chair, and a sword and spear were set upright 
before him; but sometimes spacious halls 
were erected, with tribunals of stone. 

Q. What were the judicial powers of the 
praetor ? 

A. The power of the praetor in the admin- 



36 CATECHISM OF 

• 

istration of justice, was expressed in threet 
words — do J dico, addico, 

Q, What is the meaning of these words ? 

A, By the word do, the praetor expressed 
his power in giving the form of a writ fori 
trying and redressing a wrong, and in ap- 
pointing judges or a jury, to decide the cause; 
by dico, is meant that he declared right, or 
gave, judgment ; and by addico, that he ad- 
judged the goods of the debtor to the cred- 
itor. 

Q, How far did the power of the praetorr 
extend in legal affairs ? 

A, The praetor administered justice only, 
in private or lesser cases ; but in public and! 
important causes, the people either judged 
themselves, or appointed persons called queesi- 
tores to preside. 



CHAPTEE VIIL 

Censors, 

Q. What was the office of censors among: 
the Eomans ? 

A, The censors were magistrates of great 
power and authority, whose office it was not^ 
only to divide the people into their proper- 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 3t 

classes and centuries, and to take account of 
their estates and goods, but likewise to super- 
intend the public morals, and to punish a 
breach of them, even in persons of the high- 
est dignity. 

Q, How many censors were there in Rome ? 

A. The censors were two : they were chosen 
every fifth year, but continued in office only 
one year and a half ; during which time they 
had all the ensigns of the consuls, except the 
lictors. 

Q, What were the duties of the censors? 

A, The censors took care of the public 
taxes, and made laws respecting them, ac- 
cording to the property of the different 
classes ; they had the charge of the public 
buildings and ways, and defrayed the ex- 
penses of the public sacrifices. 

Q. What else have you to observe of the 
censors ? 

A. When any of the senators or equites 
committed a dishonorable action, the censors 
could erase the name of the former from the 
list of senators, and deprive the knight of 
his horse and ring, and, for a reasonable 
cause, they could remove a citizen from a 
more honorable to a less honorable tribe, or 
deprive him of all the privileges of a Roman 
citizen, except liberty. 



38 CATECHISM OF 

Q. Did the censors exercise any other func- 
tions? 

A. The censors let the public lands and - 
taxes ; they presided at the games and sac- 
rifices which were made upon the public 
account ; and, besides the inspection of the 
morals of the citizens, they superintended 
the . education of youth. 

Q. What was the chief public duty of the 
censors ? 

A. The most important duty of the censors 
was performed every fifth year in the Cam/pus 
MartiuSy or Field of Mars, where, after the 
numbering of the people, and a survey of 
their fortunes and manners, the censors made 
a solemn lustration^ or expiatory sacrifice, in 
the name of all the people. 

Q. Was not the office of censor very hon- 
orable among the Komans ? 

A, The title of censor was esteemed more 
honorable than that of consul, although at- 
tended by less power; no one could be 
elected a second time to that office, and they 
wlio filled it were usually possessed of much 
Jinnness, and were remarkable for leading an 
irreproachable life ; so that it Avas reckoned 
the chief ornament of nobility to be sprung 
from a censorian family. 



k 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 39 

CHAPTER IX. 

Tribunes of the People. 

Q. To what did these magistrates owe 
their origin? 

A, The tribunes of the people owed their 
origin to a dispute between the patricians and 
plebeians ; for the latter being oppressed by 
the patricians, departed from the city, and 
could not be induced to return, till permis- 
sion was granted them to choose magistrates 
from their own body, who should redress 
their grievances and preserve their liberties. 

Q. How many tribunes were there ?• 

A, At first there were five tribunes, but 
their number was increased to ten. 

Q. What was required of the candidates 
for the tribuneship ? 

A, No one could be made tribune except a 
plebeian ; nor could he obtain that oifice if his 
father had filled any of the dignities of con- 
sul, praetor, &c., or had been a captive. 

^. What was peculiar to the tribune- 
ship ? 

A, The tribunes had no peculiar robe or 
attendants, except a beadle, called viator: 
they had, however, a right of precedency, 
and every one was obliged to rise in their 



40 CATECHISM OP 

presence ; their persons also were sacred ; 
and if any one hurt a tribune in word or 
deed, he was accursed, and his goods were 
confiscated ; it was likewise forbidden to in- 
terrupt them while speaking. 

Q, What was the power enjoyed by the 
tribunes ? 

A, The office of the tribunes was only to 
assist the plebeians against the patricians; 
but by degrees they assumed almost absolute 
power; they could put a negative upon all 
the decrees of the senate and ordinances of 
the people ; and a single tribune, by the word 
veto, I forbid; could stop the proceedings of 
all the other magistrates. 

Q, What other rights had they ? 

A. The tribunes could call meeting^s of the 
tribes, and make laws which were binding on 
the whole commonwealth ; they also had the 
power of holding the senate, and of dismiss- 
ing it ; they could prevent the election of 
magistrates, the enlisting of soldiers, and the 
collection of tribute. 

Q. What farther have you to observe of 
the tribunes? 

A, The tribunes of the people were not 
allowed to remain all night out of the city ; 
and their doors were open by day as well as 
by night, that they might be ready to hear 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 41 

the complaints of the wretched ; their power 
was confined to the city, and a mile around 
it. 

Q, Did not the tribunes also administer 
justice? 

A, Sometimes the tribunes sat in judg- 
ment, and what they decreed was called 
edictum ; in these cases they had no tribu- 
nal, but sat on benches. 



CHAPTER X. 

Q, Who were the magistrates called 
rediles? 

A, The oediles were so called from their 
care of edifices ; they were either plebeian or 
curule. 

Q. Wljo were the j)Ieheian wdiles? 

A, The plebeian aediles were created at the 
same time with the tribunes of the people, to 
be as it were their assistants, and to deter- 
mine certain lesser causes, which the tribunes 
committed to them. 

Q. Who were the curule aediles? 

A, The curule aediles were chosen to super- 
4* 



42 CATECHISM 01' 

intend the public games ; they were at first . 
elected from the patricians, but afterwards 
from the other orders promiscuously. 

Q. What were their external marks of dig- 
nity ? 

A. The curule asdiles wore a white robe 
fringed with purple, had a right to images, 
and a more honorable place of giving ttieir 
opinion in the senate. They used the curule 
chair when they administered justice, whence 
they had their name ; w^hereas the plebeian 
cediles sat on benches, but their persons were 
inviolable. 

Q. What were the functions of the a^diles ? 

A, The aediles took care of the city, its 
public buildings, temples, theatres, baths, 
aqueducts, public roads, &c. ; also of private 
buildings, lest they should become ruinous 
and deform the city, or occasion danger to 
passengers. 

Q, What were the other duties of the 
aediles ? 

A, The aediles took care oi provisions, 
markets, taverns, &c. ; they broke unjust 
weights and measures, and inspected those 
tilings which were exposed for sale, and if 
they were not good they caused them to be 
thrown into the river Tiber. 

Q. What was the peculiar duty of the 
curule aediles? 



kdMAN ANTIQUITIES. iS 

A, Besides the inspection of the public 
solemn games, the curule asdiles examined 
the plays which were to be brought upon 
the stage, and rewarded or punished the act- 
ors as they deserved. 

Q, What restriction was there on the 
power of aediles? 

A. The aediles had neither the power of 
summoning, nor of seizing, unless by order 
of the tribunes ; nor did they use lictors or 
viators, but only public slaves; a private 
person might even sue them at law. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Qucestors. 

Q, AVho were the quasstors ? 

A, The quaestors were officers elected by 
the people to take care of the public reve- 
nues. 

Q. IIow many were there ? 

A, The quaestors were at first only tw( , 
but two others were added to accompany the 
armies ; and upon the conquest of all ttaly^ 
four more were created, who remained in the 
provinces. 



44 CATJECHISM OF 

Q, Wh^at were the duties of tHe city 
quaestors? 

A. The principal charge of the city c^ufes- 
tors was to take car,e of the treasury. They 
received and expended the public money, and 
e±dcted the fines iiriposed by the public. 

Q, What was the office of the military 
■quaestors? 

A, The military , quaestorS; who accompa- 
nied the armies, took care of the payment of 
the soldiers, and of the sale of plunder and 
booty. 

Q. What were the provincial qusestors ? 

A. The provincial quaestors were those who 
attended the consuls or praetors into their 
provinces, to exact the taxes and tribute of 
the empire ; to take care of the money, and 
to sell the spoils taken in war;, to see that 
provisions and pay were furnished to the 
army, and keep the money deposited by the 
soldiers; in the absence of the praetor, they 
were attended by lictors. > 

Q, What other duties have you to re- 
mark? 

A, The quaestors had the care of the eagles 
and standards; they directed the funeral of 
those who were buried at the public expense; 
and when a conquering general demanded 
the honor of a triumph, they obliged him to 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 45 

swear, that he had delivered to the senate a 
true account of the number he had slain, and 
of the citizens that were missing. 

Q. What have you to observe on the office 
of quaestor? 

A, The qnaestorship was the first step of 
preferment to the other public charges, and 
to admission into the senate; its continua- 
tion was but for one year ; and no one could 
be a candidate for it until he had completed 
his twenty-seventh year. 

Q. Were there any other ordinary magis- 
trates ? 

A, There were various others; among 
them were such as had the charge of the 
prison, the mint, the night watches, the 
streets and public roads. 



CHAPTEK XTI. 

Dictator and Master of Horse. 

Q, Who was the dictator ? 

A. The dictator among the Eomans was a 
magistrate invested with royal authority, 
created in perilous circumstances, in time of 
pestilence, sedition, or when the common- 
wealth was attacked by dangerous enemies. 



46 CATECHISM OP 

Q, What was the power of the dictator ? 

A. The power of the dictator was supreme 
both in peace and war ; and was even abov( 
the laws : he could raise and disband armies 
and he could determine upon the life and 
fortunes of Eoman citizens, without consult- 
ing the people or senate. 

Q. What circumstances attended the crea- 
tion of a dictator ? 

A. Upon the creation of a dictator, all 
magistracies ceased, except the tribuneship 
of the people : he was chosen by the consul, 
usually in the dead of the night ; his edict 
was observed as an oracle, and to make the 
authority of his charge more awful, he was 
always attended in public by 24 lictors, carry- 
ing the bundles of rods with axes tied up in 
the middle. 

Q. What limits were there to the power 
of the dictator ? 

^ A. The dictator could be created only for 
six months, but he usually resigned his com^ 
mand whenever he had effected the business 
for which he had been created : he was not 
allowed to expend the public money, without 
leave of the senate ; he could not go out of 
Italy, nor could he ride on horseback, with- ' 
out asking the permission of the people. A 
dictator could also be called to an account 



[ 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 47 



For his conduct when he resigned his office, 
which was a principal check against his 
abuse of power. 

Q. Who was the master of horse ? ^ 
A, The master of horse was nominated by. 
the dictator immediately after his creation : 
his proper office was to command the cavalry, 
and to execute the orders of the dictator. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

The Decemvirs, Military Tribunes, and Interrex. 

Q, Who were the magistrates called de- 
cemvirs ? 

A, The decemvirs were 10 magistrates, 
invested with supreme power, who were cre- 
ated to draw up a code of laws; all the other 
magistrates having first abdicated their office. 

Q. What was the cause of their creation ? 

A, The laws of the kings of Rome being 
no longer observed under the commonwealth, 
the consuls determined most causes according 
to their pleasure ; with this, the people be^ 
came displeased, and obtained a decree of 
the senate, that three ambassadors should be 
sent into Greece, to collect the best laws and 



48 CATECHISM OF 

institutions for the service of their country ; ; 
and upon their return, 10 of the chief sena- 
tors were elected to model and propose them. . 

Q. -With what power were they invested ? ' 

A, The power of the decemviri was equal 
to that of the kings or consuls for a year; 
only one of them could, at one time, enjoy 
the fasces and other consular ornaments, as- 
semble the senate, confirm decrees, &c.; this 
honor they took by turns, while the rest dif- 
fered little from private persons. 

Q, What were the other extraordinary 
magistrates ? 

A. The chief were the military tribunes and 
the interrex, 

Q, Who were the magistrates called mili- 
tary tribunes ? 

A, The military tribunes were magistrates, 
from three to eight in number, who were 
elected from both orders of the people, and 
invested with consular power for one year. 

Q, What was the origin of this office ? 

A, Upon the conclusion of the decemvirate, 
the influence of the people increased in the 
State, and they petitioned to be capable of 
being admitted to the consulship. 

Q. Did the people obtain their request ? 

A. No; the interested patricians opposed 
themselves to the request ; but on the break- 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 49 

ing out of a war,, the tribunes of the people 
prevented any levies from being made, till 
the senate would accede to the measure; the 
senate then met, and proposed to the people 
the abolishment of the consulship, and the 
election of miliary tribunes; which order, 
however, lasted but a short time. 

Q. Who was the interrex. 

A. Under the regal government, an inter- 
rex was a senator, appointed to exercise the 
royal power when there was a vacancy in the 
throne. 

Q. Was not also an interrex sometimes 
created under the commonwealth ? 

A. Yes ; under the republic an interrex 
was created to hold the election when there 
was no consul or dictator, which happened 
either by their death, or when the tribunes 
of the people hindered the elections by their 
intercession. 



' CHAPTEE Xiy. 

Provincial Magistrates. 

Q, What were the provincial magistrates? 

A. The provincial magistrates were per- 
sons invested both with judicial authority 
and military command, in a province. 
5 D 



50 CATECHISM OF 

Q, Who were these governors ? 

A, The countries reduced to the names oV 
provinces by the Eoman people, were at first 
governed by prsetors, but afterwards by pro- 
consuls and proprsetorS; to whom were joined 
quaestors and lieutenants. ^ 

Q, What were their duties ? 

A. The different duties intrusted to these 
magistrates were mostly similar to those at 
Kome, described in the foregoing chapters. 



CHAPTER XV. 

Rights of Eoman Citizens. 

Q. Who were those called Roman citizens? 

A, Roman citizens were not only those 
who originally resided within the city, or 
Roman territory, but the freedom of the city 
was granted to several foreign towns, whose 
inhabitants enjoyed thereby the same rights 
as the Romans; and these were either private 
or public. 

Q, What were the private rights of Roman 
citizens ? 

A. The private rights of Roman citizens 
were the right of liberty, the right of famil}^, 
the right of marriage, the right of a father, 



f 



ROMAN ANI^IQUITIES. 61 

the right of legal property, th^ right of 
making a will, and of succeeding to an in- 
heritance, and the right of tutelage or ward- 
ship. 

Q. What do you understand by the right 
of liberty ? 

A, This right comprehended liberty from 
the dominion of tyrants, the severity of mag- 
istrates, and the insolence of more powerful 
citizens. None but the whole Eoman people 
could pass sentence of death on a Eoman 
citizen; and the single expression, ^'I am a 
Roman citizen!^'' checked the severest decrees 
of a magistrate. 

Q. What was the right of family ? 

A, Each gens or clan had certain rights 
peculiar to itself, which were inherited by 
their heirs. Another part of it was, that no 
one could pass from a patrician into a ple- 
beian family, or from a plebeian to a patrician, 
unless by a form of adoption before an assem- 
bly of the people. 

Q. What was understood by the right of 
marriage ? 

A, The right of marriage signified that 
they must marry one of their clan, and that 
no Eoman citizen wajj permitted to marry a 
slave, a barbarian, or a foreigner, unless by 
the permission of the people. 



52 CATECHISM OiP 

Q. What was the right of a father? 

A, Every Koman citizen had the power 
of life and death over his children ; he could 
imprison, scourge, and put them to death by 
any punishment he pleased, if they deserved 
it. 

Q. Did children always continue in this 
state ? 

A, No ; the father usually manumitted his 
son by bringing him before the praetor, and 
selling him three times to a friend, who sold 
him again to his father ; the father then asked 
the Eoman rights for his son, which being 
conferred on him, he became his own master. 

T, Explain the right of property. 

P. By the right of property was under- 
stood the free use of all common ages, the 
right of transferring property, that of going 
on foot and driving cattle, or a wagon through 
the farm of another, and carrying water 
through it. 

Q. What do you mean by the right of tes- 
tament and inheritance ? 

A, This right means that none but Roman 
citizens could make a will, be witnesses to a 
testament, or inherit anything by testament. 

Q. What do you understand by the right 
of tutelage or wardship? 

A, By this right a father might leave 



ROMAJ^ Ar^TIQtJITIES. 53 

whom he pleased as guardian to his wife and 
children, and no woman could perform any- 
thing of importance without the concurrence 
of the husband or guardian. 

Q. What were the public rights of the 
Romans ? 

A. Their public rights were the. right of 
being enrolled in the censor's books; the 
right of serving in the army, for at first none 
but citizens were enlisted ; the right of pay- 
ing taxes only in proportion to their estate; 
and the rio^ht of voting: in the different assem- 
blies of the people. 

Q. What were their other rights ? 

A, All Roman artisans enjoyed the right 
of bearing public offices, whether religious, 
civil, or military ; they also had the right of 
worshipping the peculiar gods of their family. 

Q. What was the difference between a Ro- 
man citizen and a foreigner ? 

A, Foreigners might live in the city, but 
they enjoyed none of the rights of citizens; 
they were subject to a particuhar jurisdiction, 
and might he expelled from the city by a 
magistrate; they were not permitted to wear 
the Roman dress, nor could they acquire 
property, or make a will; these distinctions, 
however, were afterwards abolished. 



54 CATECHISM Oi* 

CHAPTER XYI. 
Assemhlies of the People. 

Q. What name is given to the assemblies 
of the people? 

A, An assembly of the whole Roman peo- 
plc; to give their vote on any subject, was 
(tailed comiiia. There were three kinds of 
comitia — the curiata, the centuriata, and the 
irthuta. 

Q. On what account were the comitia as- 
sembled? 

A. The comitia were summoned to pass 
laws, to elect magistrates, and to decide con- 
cerning war and peace. Persons guilty of 
certain heinous crimes were also tried at the 
comitia. 

Q, What were the comiiia curiata? 

A, The comitia curiata were an assembly 
of the resident Roman citizens, who were 
divided into 30 curias, a majority of which 
determined all matters of importance that 
were laid before them. 

Q. What were the comitia centiiriaia ? 

A, The comitia centuriata were the prin- 
cipal assembly of the people, in which they 
gave their votes divided into the centuries of 
their classes, according to the census. 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 55 

- Q, What was the cemus ? 

A. The census was a numbering of the 
people, and a valuation of their fortune, usu- 
ally held every fifth year, at which time they 
V/ere divided into classes according to their 
Fortunes, and into centuries according to their 
age. 

Q. Into how many classes was the Roman 
people divided ? 

A, All the Roman citizens, both in town 
and country, were divided into six classes, 
which contained 191 centuries. 

Q, What subjects were decided by the 
comitia centuriata ? 

A. At these comitia, the consuls, prsetors, 
and censors were created; the most impor- 
tant laws were passed in them, and they tried 
all cases of high treason. War was also de- 
clared at these comitia. 

Q, How were the com^itia centuriata held ? 

A. The consul summoned them by an edict, 
17 days before they were held; and all those 
who had the full right of Roman citizens, 
whether they lived at Rome or in the coun- 
try, might be present and vote with their 
century. They always met in the Campus 
Martius, and the magistrate, after repeating a 
prayer, addressed the people, and laid before 
them the object for which they were assem- 
bled. 



66 bATJiCHISM ot 

Q, in what manner was the business of thee 
hieeting conducted ? 

i. if magistrates were to be chosen, thee 
candidates were named by the magistrate, orr 
by any of the people ; if a Uw was to be^ 
])assed, it was recited by a herald, and per-- 
sons were allowed to speak for and against 
it; the same was permitted when application' 
was made to the people for the punishment ■ 
of any one. 

Q. How did the people proceed to give 
their votes? 

A. Upon the proposition being made to 
them, the people, who stood promiscuously, 
separated every one to his own tribe and 
century; ihe names of the centuries were 
then thrown into a box, the box being then 
shaken, the century which came out first 
gave its vote. 

Q. Row did a century give its vote ? 

A, Each century had its peculiar pound or 
inclosure of boards ; and as each citizen en- 
tered it, he received tablets, on which were 
inscribed the initials of the candidates, or an 
approval or dissent from a law; each one 
threw which he pleased of the tablets into a 
chest, guarded by officers ; and these tablets 
being counted, a majority was declared to be 
the vote of that century. 



i 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 57 

Q. What were the comitia tributa ? 

A. It was an assembly in which the people 
voted, divided into tribes according to their 
reo-ions or wards. It was held to create infe- 

o 

rior magistrates, to elect certain priests, to 
make laws, and to hold trials. 

Q. How many tribes were there ? 

A. The Roman territory, properly so called, 
was divided into 35 regions or wards, the in- 
habitants of which constituted as many tribes, . 
and had their names from the wards which 
they inhabited ? 

Q. Did the Roman people long enjoy the 
liberty of choosing their own magistrates ? 

A. The comitia continued to be assembled 
for upwards of 700 years, when that liberty 
was abridged by Julius Caesar, and after him 
Augustus, each of whom shared the right of 
creating magistrates A'^ith the people. Tibe- 
rius, the second emperor, deprived the people 
altogether of the right of election. 



58 CATECHISM OF 



CHAPTEE XVII. 

Laws, Judicial Proceedings, and Punishments of 
the Romans. 

Q. What were the Eoman laws? 

A, The laws of Eome were ordained by 
the people, -upon application of a magistrate. 
The great foundation of Eoman jurispru- 
dence was the laws of the Twelve Tables, 
compiled by the decemviri, and ratified by 
the people. 

Q. Were the Eoman laws very numerous? 

A. The extension of the Eoman empire, fl 
the increase of riches, and consequently of 
crimes^ gave occasion to a great number of 
new laws, which were distinguished by the 
name of the person who proposed them, and 
by the subject to which they referred. 

Q. How are the judicial proceedings of the 
Eomans divided ? 

Note. — The following is an abridgment of the laws of 
the Twelve Tables. 1st. Related to law suits. 2d. Related 
to robbery, theft, trespass, and breach of trust. 3d. Related 
to loans, and the right the creditor had over the debtor. 4th. ^ 
Related to fathers and families. 5th. Related to inheritance 
and guardianship. 6th. Related to property and possession, l t 
7th. Related to trespass and damages. 8th. Related to '^' 
estates in the country. 9th. Related to the common right 
of the people. 10th. Related to funerals. 11th. Regu- 
lated the pontifical law. 12th. Related to marriage, and 
the rights of the husband. 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 59 

A. The judicial proceedings of the Ro- 
mans were either civil or criminal. 

Q. What were the civil trials ? 

A. Civil trials were concerning private 
causes, or differences between private per-* 
sons, and were tried in the forum by the 
pra3tor. 

Q. What was the usual mode of proceed- 
ing in these affairs ? 

A. If a person had a quarrel with any one, 
he first tried to make it up, and if no private 
agreement could be made, both parties went 
before the praetor, there the plaintiff proposed 
his action, and demanded a writ. 

Q, What was next done ? 

A, The writ being granted, the plaintiff 
required that the defendant should give bail 
for his appearance on the third day, at which 
time, if either when cited was not present, 
without a valid excuse, he lost his cause ; 
but the difference Avas frequently made up in 
the interval. 

Q. What Avere the different kinds of ac- 
tions. 

A. Actions were either real, personal, or 
mixed: Beal, was for obtaining a thing to 
which one had a real right, but was possessed 
by another ; Personal, was against a person, 
to bind him to the fulfilment of a contract, 



60 CATECHISM OF 

or to obtain redress for wrongs ; Mixed, was 
when the actions had relations to persons and 
things. 

Q, What was the form of trial ? 

A, After the plaintiff had preferred hiis 
suit, in set form, judges were appointed by 
the praetor to hear and determine the matter, 
and the number of witnesses fixed, that the 
suit might not be unreasonably protracted. 

Q, What were the proceedings which fol- 
lowed ? 

A, The parties then proceeded to give 
security that they would abide by the judg- 
ment, and the judges took a solemn oath to 
decide impartially ; after this, the cause was 
argued by lawyers on both sides, assisted by 
Avitnesses, writings, &c. 

Q, What form was observed in giving 
sentence ? 

A, In giving sentence, the sufirages of a 
majority of the judges were necessary to de- 
cide against the defendant ; but if the num- 
ber was equally divided, it was left to the 
praetor to determine. 

' Q, What do you understand by crimmal 
matters. 

A. Criminal matters were such actions as 

tended either directlj^ or indirectly to the 

.prejudice of the State, and were forbidden 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 61 

by the laws ; as, if any persons had derogated 
from the honor and majesty of the common- 
wealth, had embezzled or misapplied the 
public money, or had been guilty of bribery, 
or if he had taken away another's life, or 
had forged a will. 

Q. Where were criminal trials held ? 
A. Criminal trials were held before the 
people in the comitia centuriata and tribiUa — 
before the inquisitors^ and before the prae- 
tors, assisted by a council of jurymen. 

Q, What were the proceedings in a public 
action. 

A, The criminal was first summoned to 
appear as in a private case, his name was 
entered in the roll of criminals, and a day 
appointed for his trial, until which time the 
accused wore a mourning habit; it was re- 
quisite in the comitia that some magistrate 
should be the accuser. 

Q. What was the mode of trial? 
A, Upon the appointed day, the parties 
being present, if before the prsetor, a jury 
was empanelled to decide on the guilt or 
innocence of the criminal ; the accuser pro- 
ceeded to state the charge against the crimi- 
nal, and to aggravate it by all the powers of 
eloquence; then the advocate for the accused 
defended him. 
6 



62 CATECHISM OF 

Q. How was the verdict given ? 

A. The jury delivered their verdict by. 
writing their opinion on a tablet, and throv/- 
ing it into an urn used for that purpose ; the 
accused person prostrating himself at their . 
feet while so doing, to excite their compas- 
sion; the tablets being drawn, the praetor 
gave judgment either of condemnation or ac- 
quittal, according to the majority of opinions. 

Q, Were not the people at large sometimes 
judges? 

A. Yes; especially in criminal matters; the 
accuser, at the end of his charge, mentioned 
the particular punishment appointed by law 
for the offence, and the comitia divided into 
centuries to give their votes ; or sometimes 
they passed sentence unanimously. 

Q. What were the Roman punishments, 

A. The Roman punishments authorized 
by law, were fine, imprisonment, and fetters ; 
stripes generally inflicted with rods, or the 
infliction of the same injury that had been 
done to the accuser ; public shame, or pen- 
ance, banishment, selling into slavery, and 
death. 

Q. How was death inflicted among the 
Romans ? 

A, Criminals were either beheaded, stran- 
gled in prison, or thrown from the Tarpeian 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 63 

rock ; slaves, and every mean person were 
usuallv crucified. 

Q. Were there no other modes of inflicting 
death ? 

A, For the crime of parricide, the criminal, 
after having been scourged, was sewed up in 
a leather sack, together with an ape, a cock, 
a serpent, and a dog, and thrown into the sea 
or a deep river. 



1' 
BOOK II. 

RELIGION OF THE ROMANS. 



CHAPTEE I. 

Boman Priests and their Offices. 

Q. What was the religion of the Eomans ? 

A, The Eoman people were pagans^ and 
worshipped a great number of gods. 

Q. Were the Eomans virtuous in propor- 
tion to the number of their divinities ? 

A. The Eomans, in the early ages of their 
republic, rather exceeded than fell short in 
their virtues; they were devout even to 
superstition; valiant to a contempt of life, 
and an inconsiderate courting of danger ; 
frugal and temperate to a voluntary absti- 
nence from lawful pleasures and convenience; 
constant, even to their own ruin ; and rather 
rigorous than just. 

Q, Did they not afterwards degenerate ? 

A. As they enlarged their dominions, they 

Note. — An enumeration of even the chief Roman di- 
vinities would be tedious and unnecessary, as the study 
of mythology is indispensable to a liberal education. 

(64) 



CATECHISM OF ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 65 

adopted not only the gods of the nations they 
conquered^ but likewise their luxuries and 
their vices ; so that at length from being just, 
temperate, and generous^ they became extrav- 
agant, unjust, and avaricious. 

Q, Who were the ministers of teligion 
among the Eomans? 

A. The ministers of sacred things did not 
form a distinct order from the Eoman citi- 
zens, but were chosen from the most honor- 
able and exemplary men in the State. 

Q. What were the principal divisions of 
the Eoman priests ? 

A. Some of the priests were common to all 
the gods ; others appropriated to a peculiar 
deity : of the former kind were the pontifices^ 
the aiigureSy the ■haruspices or arnspices, the 
quiyidecemvirij and the septemviri ; who were 
all subject to a pontifex maxivius, or high 
priest chosen by the people. 

Q, Who were the pontifices? 

A. The pontijices an>ong the Eomans were 
fifteen priests, who judged in all causes re- 
lating to religion, and regulated the feasts, 
sacrifices, and all other sacred institutions. 

Q. Had they any other office ? 

A. Yes ; it was also their office to inquire 
into the lives and manners of the inferior 
priests, and to see that they did their duty. 
6* E 



66 CATEClEilSM OF 

Q, What were the duties, &c., of the ponti- 
fex maximits ? ' 

A. The pontifex maximus, or high priest, 
was a person of great dignity and power ; he 
held his office for life, and all the other priests 
were subject to him ; his presence was requi- 
site in public and solemn acts ; he could 
hinder any person, even of the highest dig- 
nity, from leaving the city ; and in certain 
cases had the power of life and death. 

Q, AVho Avere the augures ? 

A, The aitgureSy or augurs, were 15 in num- 
ber, whose office it was to foretell future 
events, to interpret dreams, oracles, prodi- 
gies, &;c., and to declare whether any action 
would be fortunate or prejudicial to any par- 
ticular person, or to the 'whole common- 
wealth ; they were of the greatest authority 
in the Koman State, as nothing of impor- 
tance was done respecting the public, either 
at home or abroad, in peace or in war, with- 
out first consulting them. 

Q. What modes of divination did these 
augurs practise ? 

A, The augurs derived tokens of futurity 
chiefly from five sources, — -from appearances 
in the heavens, as thunder and ligbtniiig, — - 
from the singing or flight of birds, — from 
the eating of chickens, — from quadrupeds, — ■ 



EOMAN ANTIQUITIES. 67 

and from uncommon accidents, a^ sneezing, 
stumbling, seeing apparitions, hearing strange 
voices, falling of salt upon the table, &c., &c. 

Q. Was this assumed prediction of future 
events rational ? 

A. Certainly not ; a desire to pry into futtl- 
rity has always been a leading passion in the 
human breast ; to gratify this, artful and de- 
signing men invented augury as a means to 
keep in subjection and increase their influ- 
ence over the vulgar ; but the whole art was 
involved in fallacy and uncertainty, as future 
events can be known and directed only by 
that almighty and all-seeing Power that cre- 
ated us. 

Q, Who were the haruspices ? 

A. The haruspices were priests whose busi- 
ness it was to examine the beasts offered in 
sacrifice, and by them to divine the success 
of any enterprise, and to derive omens of 
futurity. 

Q, From what circumstances did these 
priests derive their omens? 

A, The haruspic^ took their observations 
from the entrails of beasts; also from the 
flame, smoke, and other circumstances attend- 
ing the sacrifice, as when the victim came to 
the altar without resistance, stood there qui- 
etly, fell by one stroke, bled freely, &c., these 



68 CATECHISM of 

were esteemed favorable signs ; and the con- 
trary, nnpropitious. 

Q, Who were those called quindecemviri? 

A, The quindecemviri were 15 priests, who 
had .the charge of the Sibylline books, in- 
spected them by the injunction of the senate 
in tinies of danger, and performed the sacri- 
iices which they enjoined. 

Q, From what strange occurrence were 
they instituted ? 

A, The quindecemviri were instituted on 
the following occasion: A strange woman is 
said to have come to Tarquinius Superbus, 
then king of Rome, Avith nine books, which 
she said were the oracles of the Sibyls, and 
ofltered to sell them ; but upon Tarquinius 
refusing to give her the price which she 
asked, she went away, and burnt three of 
them, and returning with the six, asked the 
same price as before. Being ridiculed b3^ the 
king, she went and burnt three others, and 
coming back still demanded the same sum 
for the three which remained. 

Q. AVhat did the king do in consequence? 

A, Tarquin, surprised at the extraordinary 
behavior of the woman, consulted the augurs; 
these much blamed him for not buying the 
nine, and advised him to give the price re- 
quired ; the woman, after delivering the three 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. G9 

prophetic volumes, and advising tlie king to 
pay a special attention to what they con- 
tained, disappeared and was never after- 
wards seen. 

Q, What was done with these volumes ? 

A. As they were supposed to contain the 
fate of the Eoman empire, they were kept in 
a stone chest, under the capitol ; they were at 
first committed to the care of two men, duum- 
viriy and afterwards to fifteen called quinde- 
cemviri, 

Q, What was the ofiice of the septemviri ? 

A, The septemviri were priests among the 
Eomans, who prepared the sacred feasts at 
games, processions, and other solemn occa- 
sions. 

Q, Had they any other office ? 

A, They were assistants to the pontifices, 
who found it impossible to attend to the 
numerous sacred entertainments, feasts, &c., 
decreed to the gods. 

Q. Were there any other orders of priest- 
hood common to all the gods among the 
Romans ? 

A. Yes ; but they were less considerable 
than the former, although composed of per- 
sons of distinguished rank. There were the 
fratres ambarvales, the curiones, and the feci- 
ales. 



70 CATECHISM OF 

Q. What were the different functions of || 
these priests ? " 

A, The fratres ambarvales, 12 in number, 
were those priests who offered up sacrifices 
for the fertility of the ground ; the curiones 
performed the rites in each curia; the feci- 
ales were employed in declaring war and 
making peace. 

Q, Who were the priests of particular 
gods? 

A, These were called Flamines, and the 
chief of them were DialeSj priest of Jupiter; 
Saliij priests of Mars ; Lupevii, priests of Pan, 
the most ancient order, and that which con- 
tinued longest ; Potitii^ priests of Hercules ; 
Galliy priests of Cybele, and the Vestal Vir- 
gins consecrated to the worship of Vesta. 



CHAPTER 11. 

Places of Sacred Worships and the Rites and 
Sacrifices of the Romans, 

Q, What were the places of worship among 
the Romans ? 

A. The Romans worshipped their gods in 
templa or templeS; formally consecrated by 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 71 

the augurs ; groves, or thickets of trees were 
also consecrated to religious worship, as the 
gods were supposed to frequent woods and 
fountains. 

Q. What were the modes of worship 
among the Eomans? 

A. The worship of the gods consisted 
chiefly in prayer, vows, and sacrifices. 

Q. What have you to remark of the Eo- 
man prayers ? , 

A. Prayer, among the Eomans, was thought 
of the greatest importance ; and no act of re- 
ligious worship was performed without it. 

Q. In what posture did the Eomans gen- 
erally pray ? 

A, l^hey usually stood with their heads 
covered, looking towards the east ; a priest 
pronounced the words before the person who 
prayed, who frequently touched the altars, 
and prostrated himself on the ground. 

Q, Did not the Eomans also offer vows to 
the gods ? 

A. They vowed to them with great solem- 
nity, temples, games, sacrifices, gifts, &c. ; 
sometimes they used to write their vows on 
paper or waxen tablets, to seal them up, and 
fasten them with wax to the knees of the 
images of the gods ; because the knees were 
supposed to be the seat of mercy. 



73 CATECHISM OF 

Q, How many kinds of sacrifices were 
there ? , , 

A. Sacrifices among the Eomans Avere of 
different kinds: some were stated; others 
occasional, as those called expiatorj?-, for 
averting bad omens, or making atonement 
for a crime. 

Q. On what were the sacrifices offered ? 

A, A place erected for offering sacrifices 
was called ara pr aliare, an altar ; it was cov- 
ered wdth leaves and grass, adorned with 
flowers, and bound with woollen fillets. 

Q. What was required of those who offered 
sacrifices'? 

A. It was requisite that those who offered 
sacrifices should come chaste and pure ; that 
they should bathe themselves, be dressed in 
white robes, and crowned with the leaves of 
that tree which was thought most acceptable 
to the god whom they worshipped. Some- 
times also, with dishevelled hair, loose robes, 
and with their feet bare. 

Q. Were not the Eomans very particu- 
lar in the choice of animals for their sac- 
rifices ? 

A, It was necessary that the animals to be 

Note. — As every deity had some peculiar rites and 
institutions, it wiU not be possible to give more than a 
general outline of this branch of public worship. 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 73 

sacrificed, should be without spot or blemish, 
aud that they never had submitted to the 
yoke. 

Q. What were the accessories to the sacri- 
fice? 

A. The priest aud the person by whom the 
victim was presented, went before in white 
garments ; and the victim was led to the altar 
by the j)opdo or slayers, with a slack rope, that 
it might not seem to be brought by force, 
which was considered a bad omen. 

Q, Did the Eomans ever use music in time 
of sacrifice? 

A, The procession usually advanced to the 
s(5und of musical instruments; and these con- 
tinued to play even while prayers were offered 
to the gods, to prevent the hearing of any 
unlucky noise; vows and prayers were always 
made before the sacrifice. 

Q, What were the first ceremonies of the 
sacrifice ? 

A, When the prayers were finished, and 
silence was ordered, the priest threw some 
corn and frankincense, together with the sa- 

NoTE. — If. the beast were an ox, buU, or cow, it had 
its horns gilt ; if of the lesser sort of beasts, as sheep, 
goat, or swine, it was crowned with the leaves of the 
tree in which the deity most delighted to whom the sacri- 
fice was designed. 

7 



74 CATECHISM OF 

cred cake, upon the head of the beast; he 
then sprinkled some wine between the horns, 
by way of libation. 

Q. What next was done ? 

A, In the next place, the priest plucked 
off the highest hairs from the forehead of the 
beast, and threw them into the fire ; then 
turning himself to the east, he drew a sort of 
crooked line with his knife from the forehead 
to the tail, which was the signal for the ser- 
vants to slay the victim. 

Q. How was the victim slain ? 

A. The victim was struck with an axe or a 
mall, then stabbed with knives, and the blood 
being caught in goblets, was poured upon the 
altar ; it was then flayed and dissected ; but 
sometimes it was all burned, and called Jiolo- 
caustum. 

Q. What were the other ceremonies of the 
sacrifice ? 

A, The haruspices inspected the entrails, 
to observe if they had offered an acceptable 
sacrifice ; if the signs were unfavorable, an- 
other victim was offered up, and sometimes 
several ; the liver and the heart were chiefly 
inspected. 

T. Describe the conclusion of the sacrifice. 

P, After the haruspices had inspected the 
entrails, the priests laid the parts they con- 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. T5 

sidered most acceptable to the gods upon the 
altars ; these they sprinkled with meal, wine, 
and frankincense, and burned them; what 
remained of the victim was divided between 
the priests and the person who offered the 
sacrifice, who usually feasted upon it with 
his friends. 

Q. Were human sacrifices offered up among 
the Romans ? 

A, In the first ages of the Roman republic, 
persons guilty of certain crimes were devoted 
to Pluto and the infernal gods ; this custom 
was partly prohibited by the senate about 
100 years before the Christian era; yet great 
numbers were afterwards slain as victims, 
with the usual formalities; sometimes horses, 
and also men alive, were thrown into the sea, 
as offerings to Neptune, the god of that ele- 
.ment. 

Q, Had the places of sacred worship any 
peculiar privilege ? 

A, Altars and temples, among the Romans, 
afforded an asylum to slaves from the cruelty 
of their masters, to insolvent debtors, and to 
criminals. 

Q, Did not the Roman masters find out 
some stratagem to revenge themselves on 
their slaves, who had thus taken shelter ? 

A, As it was unlawful to drag them thence, 



76 CATECHISM OP 

they put fire about tlie place; and in tliat ^ 
manner forced them out : or they shut up 
the temple and unroofed it, leaving them to 
perish. 



CHAPTEIi III. 

Roman Festivals, 

Q, What were the stated festivals of Jan- 
uary ? 

A, In January, the Eomans celebrated 
feasts to the honor of Janus ; the first day 
was noted for the entering of the magistrates 
into office; people wished one another health 
and prosperity on that day, and sent presents 
to their friends. 

Q, What festivals were there in February ? ' 

A, The chief were the Lupercalia, or feasts 
of Pan, on the 13th ; in this month also were 
the Feralia, in honor of the ghosts, when 
people carried some little offering to the 
graves of their deceased friends; after which, 
relations and friends kept a feast of peace 
and love for settling differences. 

Q. What were the principal feasts observed 
in March ? 

A. In March happened the Matronaliaj a 



feOMAN ANTIQUITIES. 77 

feast kept by the Eoman matrons, at which 
presents were made by husbands to their 
wives. On the 19th was the feast of quin- 
quatricUy in honor of Minerva^ which lasted 
five days; during this solemnity, young per- 
sons prayed for wisdom and learning, of 
which Minerva was the goddess; and at tliis 
time boys brought presents to their masters. 

Q. What stated festivals were there in the 
month of April? 

A. April 19th was the feast of Ceres, in 
which the chief ministers were women; there 
were several others kept by the shepherds, 
in which sacrifices were offered for the flocks, 
&c. 

Q. What were the principal feasts of May ? 

A, On the 9th of May was the feast of the 
Leymires, ghosts or spectres, which were be- 
lieved to be the souls of deceased friends ; to 
these, sacred rites were performed for three 
nights, not successively, but alternately ; on 
the 13th was the festival of merchants. 

Q. What feasts do you remark in the other 
months? 

A, There were no remarkable feasts in the 
remaining part of the year, except the Sahir- 
naliay or the feast of Saturn, kept on the 17th 
of December, and lasting seven days. 

T, Describe the Saturnalia. 
7^ 



78 CAa?ECHlSM OP 

P. The feasts of Saturn were the most 
celebrated in the whole year: besides ob- 
serving the sacrifices and other parts of re- 
ligious worship^ all others were devoted to 
mirth and feasting ; friends sent presents to 
one another ; no war was to be proclaimed, 
and no offender executed ; the schools kept 
a vacation ; and masters treated their slaves 
on an equal footing, in memory of the lib- 
erty enjoyed under Saturn, when the distinc- 
tion of master and servant Avas not known 
to the world. 

Q. What other stated festivals were there 
among the Eomans ? 

A, Besides the feasts already noticed, there 
were others annually appointed by the magis- 
trates on certain days, in honor of the tute- 
lary gods of the rustic tribes in seed-time, for 
a good crop, &c. 

Q. What were their occasional festivals ? 

A. These were holidays appointed for ex- 
piating prodigies, or on account of a victory, 
or of some public calamity, as a dangerous 
war, the death of an emperor, &c. 

Q, What were those days called oiundinse? 

A. The nundinsej or market-days, hap- 
pened every ninth day ; they were set apart 
for the concourse of the people out of the 
country and neighboring towns to expose 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 79 

their commodities for sale, and to get their 
controversies and causes decided by the 
prcetor, or sitting magistrate? 

Q. A¥ere there any other distinctions of 
days among the Romans ? 

A. There were the dies fasti, upon which it 
was lawful for the proetor to sit in judgment ; 
all other days were termed ne/asti, and the 
courts were not open. Dies comitalies were 
the days on which the public assemblies of 
the people were held ; the prwlaries, or fight- 
ing-days, on which they thought it lawful to 
engage in any act of hostility ; and the non- ■ 
prseliares, which they thought unlucky, being 
usually days on which some disaster had 
happened 

Q, Were not the Roman festivals very 
numerous? 

A, Most of the year was taken up with 
sacrifices and holidays, to the great loss of 
the public; so that the emperor Claudius 
consented to abridge their number. 



80 CATECHISM OF 

CHAPTER lY; 

Roman Games. 

Q. To whom were the Roman games con- 
secrated ? 

A. The Roman games, as constitnting part 
of religions worship, Avere always consecrated 
to some god, and were either stated, or vowed 
by generals in war, or celebrated on extraor- 
dinary occasions ; the most celebrated games 
were those of the circus. 
• Q, What were the games of the circus ? 

A. The shows, exhibited in the circus max- 
imns, were chariot and horse races; contests 
of agility and strength; the combat of wild 
beasts ; the representation of a liorse and 
foot battle ; and the sham sea-fight. 

Q. AVhat have you to relate of the chariot 
races ? . 

A, The charioteers were distributed into 
four parties, or factions, distinguished by 
their different colored dress. The spectators 
fcivored one or the other color, as honor or 
caprice inclined them. In the time of Jus- 
tinian, 30,000 men lost their lives at Constan- 
tinople in a tumult raised by a contention 
among the partisans of these several colors. 

Q. What were the contests for agility and 
strength ? 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 81 

A. These were running, leaping, boxing, 
wrestling, and throwing the quoit; boxers 
covered their hands with a kind of gloves, 
which had lead or iron sewed into them to 
make the stroke fall with a greater weight. 

T. Describe the combats of wild beasts. 

P, The combats between wild beasts were 
various; sometimes a tiger being matched 
with a lion, sometimes a lion with a bull, a 
bull with an elephant, a rhinoceros with a 
bear, &c. Men also fought with wild beasts, 
being either forced to it by punishment, as 
the primitive Christians often were, or they 
fought voluntarily, or for hire. 

Q. What was the representation of a sea- 
fight? 

A, They were called naumachise^ or naval 
combats, and were instituted for the purpose 
of acquiring naval discipline ; in later times, 
however, those who fought were composed 
of captives, or condemned malefactors, who 
fought to death, unless saved by the clemency 
of the emperor. 

Q. What were the gladiators ? 

A, The gladiators were men who fought 
with weapons in a public circus, for the en- 
tertainment of the public. 

Q, To what do -the combats of gladiators 
owe their rise ? 



88 CATECHISM OF 

A, These shows seem to have taken their 
rise from the custom of slaughtering captives 
at the tombs of those slain in battle, which 
was supposed to appease their manes, but 
from which humanity recoils with horror. 

Q, Of what persons were the gladiators 
composed ? 

JL. Gladiators were at first composed of 
captives, slaves, and of condemned malefac- 
tors, who were regularly trained for the com- 
bat ; yet in the more degenerate period of the 
empire, free-born citizens, and even senators, 
engaged in this dangerous and disgraceful 
employment. 

Q, What were the most remarkable kinds 
of gladiators. 

A. The gladiators were named after the 
arms they used; the most remarkable were 
the ratiatii and the secutores, 

Q. Who was the retiarius ? 

A, The retiarius wore a short tunic, with 
his head bare ; he held in his left hand a tri- 
dent, or three-pointed spear ; and in his right . 
a net, with which he endeavored to entangle 
his adversary, that with his trident he might 
dispatch him. 

Q, Who was the secutor ? 

A. The secutor^ or follower, was armed with 
a helmet, a shield, and a sword, and was 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 83 

matched with the retiarius; if the latter 
missed his aim in throwing the net, he at- 
tempted by flight to gain time for a second 
cast; while the secutor pursued to prevent 
his design by dispatching him. 

Q. Were the Eomans acquainted with stage 
plays ? 

A, The Eomans were unacquainted with 
dramatic entertainments, or stage plays, for 
some centuries after the building of the city ; 
they were first introduced at Eome on ac- 
count of a pestilence, to appease the divine 
wrath ; they were divided, as with us, into 
tragedy, comedy, and pantomime. 

Q. What have you to observe of their 
plays ? 

A, The Eoman tragedy ana comedy were 
wholly borrowed from the Greeks, and nearly 
resembled ours; their chief difference con- 
sisted in the chorus ; this was usually a com- 
pany of actors, which remained on the stage 
singing and conversing on the subject in the 
interval of the acts. 



84 CATECHISM OP 

CHAPTER V. 

Computation of Time, 

^ Q. How did the Eomans divide their year ? * 

A. The RomanS; since the time of Numa, , 
their second king, divided their year into 12 ! 
months; but it was Julius Caesar who re- 
formed their calendar, and gave to each 
month the number of days which it still re- 
tains. 

Q, What were the divisions of the Roman ; 
month ? 

A, The Romans divided their months into 
three parts, viz., kalends, noneSj and ides ; and 
not as we do, into weeks, in imitation of the 
Jews. 

T, Describe the Roman mode of reckoning. 

P, The Romans, in making the days of the 
month, went backwards ; thus January 1st 

Note. — The names of tlie months were derived as 
follows : January from Janus^ the god of the year, to 
whom its beginning was dedicated; February was so 
called, because then the people were purified; March 
from Mars, the god of war ; April has its name from 
apeno, to open, because then trees and flowers open their 
buds ; May, from the goddess 3faia, the mother of Mer- , 
cury ; June, from the goddess Ju7io ; July was so named 
from Julius Csesar ; August, from the emperor Augustus; 
September the seventh month, October the eighth^ Novem- 
ber the ninth, December the tenth month. 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 85 

was the first of the kalends of January, De- 
cember the 31st was pridie kalendaSy or the 
day next before the kalends of January; the 
day before that, or the 80th of December, 
tertio kalendas Januarii^ or the third day be 
fore the kalends of January; and so on to the 
18th, when was the ides of December; but 
this is exemplified in a plainer manner by 
the table-page at the end. 

Q. How was the day divided among the 
Eomans? 

A. The day, among the Komans, was either 
civil or natural ; the civil day was from mid- 
night to midnight ; its parts were from cock- 
crowing, the dawn, the morning, the forenoon, 
noon, &c. ; the natural day was from the rising 
to the setting of the sun; it consisted of 12 
hours, which were longer or shorter at differ- 
ent seasons of the year. 

Q, How did the Eomans regulate their 
time? 

A, The use of clocks and watches was un- 
known to the Eomans ; nor was it till 447 
years after the building of the city that the 
sun-dial was introduced; about a century later 
they first measured time by a water-machine, 
which served by. night as well as by day. 

Q. What distinction was there among their 
days? 



86 CATECHISM OF ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 

A. The Eomans distinguished their days 
by the names of feati, profesti, and intercisi, 

T, Explain the meaning of these terms. 

P. The days called festiy were dedicated to 
religious worship ; the profesti were allotted 
to ordinary business; and the days which 
served partly for the one and partly for the 
other, were termed intercisi, or half-holidays. 

Q. What else have you to observe of the 
days called festi? 

A, On these days only sacrifices were per- 
formed, feasts and games were celebrated, 
and they were set apart for the observance of 
the /ma?. 

Q, What were the /ena?.^ 

A, The Eoman ferise were holidays, on 
which there was a cessation from business ; 
they were either stated, or annually fixed on 
a certain day by the magistrates, or occasion- 
ally appointed by order of the civil author- 
ities. 

Q. What were the stated ferise ? 

A, These were public feasts kept by the 
whole city, according to the time marked in 
the calendar for their observance. 



BOOK III. 

MILITARY AND NAVAL AFFAIRS OF THE 
ROMANS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Division of the Anny^ their Armor and Weapons. 

Q. To whom was the direction of military 
affairs confided. 

A, To the consuls^ who, as soon as they 
were elected, chose 24 military tribunes, and 
commanded all persons above 17 years of age^ 
to meet at the capital; and there, every tribe 
dividing itself into centuries, soldiers were 
selected by name, and obliged to serve in the 
army. 

Q, What was the Roman form of declaring 
war ? 

A. When the Romans thought themselves 
injured by any nation, they sent a priest to 
ask redress ; if it were not granted, the priest 
went to their confines, and having thrown a 

(87) 



88 CATECHISM OP 

bloody spear into their territory, formally 
declared war against that nation. 

Q. Who composed the Eoman armies ? 

A, The Eomans were a nation of warriors, 
and none of the lower classes or slaves were 
enlisted, every citizen being obliged to enroll 
himself, when the public service required. 
The cavalry was composed of the equitesj or 
knights, esteemed the most respectable and 
most virtuous citizens, who fought for the 
honor of their country. 

Q, Who were the principal military offi- 
cers ? 

A. These were the imperator or commander- 
in-chief, the legati or generals, the tribunes, 
and the centurions. 

Q. What were their different functions ? 

A. The centurions commanded the compa- 
nies; the tribunes decided controversies in 
' the army, gave the Avord to the watch, took 
care of the works and camp, &c. ; ,the legati 
commanded in the absence of the imperator, 
to whom was confided the entire management 
of the war. 

Q, What were the different kinds of in- 
fantry ? 

A. The Eoman legion, or body of 6000 
men, was composed of different kinds of foot- 
soldiers ; the hastati consisted of young men 



ROMAN Al^tKjUtTIES. §9 

in the flower of life, and formed the fir^t line 
of battle ; the principes were men of middle 
age in the vigor of life, that occupied the 
second line ; the triarii were old soldiers of 
approved valor, who farmed the third line ; 
the velites, young and inexperienced soldiers, 
fought in scattered parties befol^e the lines: 

Q. What were the arms of the EoiHan 
soldiers? 

A, The arms of the foot-soldiers consisted 
of the sword, the pilam, or dart, the galea, or 
helmet, the lorica, or coat of mail, and the 
shield. 

T. Give some description of these arms. 

P, The sword was crooked, and was worn 
on the right side, that it might not be in the 
way of the shield ; the dart, five and a half 
feet in length, with an iron head hooked at 
the end, which prevented it being easily 
drawn out, and inflicted terrible wounds. 

T. Describe their armor. 

P. The Roman soldiers wore on their heads 
a helmet of brass or iron, coming down to 
the shoulders; on the top was a crest com- 
posed of feathers or horse-hair, and often 
curiously ornamented ; the coat of mail was 
made of leather, covered with scales of iron, 
silver, or gold ; they wore also on the right 
leg greaves made of the same. 
8*' 



90 dATECHISM OF 

§.. What have you to observe of thq shield ? 

A, The shield of the Eoman soldiers was 
of an oblong or oval shape, with an iron boss 
jetting out in the middle to glance off stones 
or darts ; it was four feet long, and two and 
a half feet broad, made of pieces of Avood, 
joined together with little plates of iron^ and 
the whole covered with a bulPs hide. 

Q. What were their military ensigns ? 

A, Every legion had an eagle of gold or 
silver fixed on a spear, holding a thunderbolt, 
in his talons; the ensigns of the companies 
were spears with a cross piece of wood ; on 
the top was a hand; beneath was a small 
round shield, on which was the image of 
some warlike deity ; there were other ensigns, 
as A, B, C, D, in the Frontispiece, 

Q, What was the military music of the 
Eomans. 

A. Their music was composed of the tuba, 
exactly similar to our trumpet ; the conni and 
hucchiia, which were shaped like the horns of 
oxen ; the musicians were placed near the 
chief eagle; and, on the word being given 
by the general, they sounded an alarm, to 
which the army answered by a shout, and 
advanced to the attack. 

Q. How was a Eoman engagement con- 
ducted ? 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 01 

A. After the general had harangued the 
army, he took his station in the middle, and 
gave the signal for engagement; the velites 
rushed forward to the attack with a great 
shout, and then fell back and rallied in the 
rear. 

Q, What was the next attack ? 

A. The Aas^a^^^ next advanced"; andifthej 
found them themselves overpowered, they 
retired slowly into the intervals of the ranks 
of the principes; then the principes engaged ; 
and if they too w^ere defeated, the triarii rose, 
received the two former lines into the void 
spaces between their companies, and, closing 
their ranks in one compact body, renewed the 
combat with greater impetuosity. 

Q. Did this method usually succeed ? 

A, Yes ; for aa most other nations drew up 
their army in one front, they had to sustain 
three successive encounters, before the battle 
could be decided in their favor. If the triarii 
were defeated, the day was lost, and a retreat 
was sounded. 



§2 CATECHISM OP 



CHAPTER II. 

Military Bewards and Triumphs. 

Q. What were the ceremonies attendant 
on a victory ? 

A, When the Eomans gained a victory, 
the soldiers with shouts of joy saluted their 
general with the title of Imperator; his lie- 
tors wreathed their fasces with laurel, as the 
soldiers did their spears; the general sent 
letters wrapped round with laurel, to the 
senate, to inform them of his success ; and, 
if the victory was considerable, demanded a 
triumph. 

Q. Were any rewards given to the sol- 
diers ? 

A. After the victory, the general assembled 
His troops, and publicly bestowed rewards on 
those who deserved them. 

Q. What were the chief rewards given to 
sokiiers? 

xi. The highest and most honorable reward 
was the civic crown, composed of oaken 
boughs, given to him who had saved the life 
of a citizen ; to the person who first mounted 
the rampart, or entered the camp of the enemy, 
was given, by the general, a golden crown, 
called corona vallaries, or castrensis. 



Roman antiquities. 93 

Q. What other crowns were given as re- 
wards ? 

A, When an army was freed from a block- 
ade, the soldiers gave their deliverer a crown, 
called ohsidionales, made of the grass which 
grew in the besieged place ; to him who first 
scaled the walls of a city in an assault, was 
given a corona muralis ; to him who first 
boarded the ship of an enemy, corona navalis. 
Corona triumphalis was a crown of laurel 
worn by those generals who had enjoyed 
the honors of a triumph. 

Q, What were the smaller rewards of those 
who conducted themselves with bravery? 

A. These were a fine spear without any 
iron on it, a streamer at the end of a lance, 
ornamented bracelets, golden and silver col- 
lars, wreathed with curious art and beauty, 
rich horse-trappings, and others. 

Q. What was a triumph ? 

A. A triumph among the Eomans was a 
solemn procession in which a victorious gen- < 
eral and his army advanced through the city 
to the capitol; it was the highest military 
honor which could be obtained in the Eoman 
State; and was reserved for those generals 
who, by hard earned victories and glorious 
achievements, had added to the territories of 
the commonwealth, or delivered* the State 
from danger. 



94 CATECHISM Oi* 

T, Describe the usual ceremonies of a Ro- 
man triumph. 

P. The triumphal procession began from 
the Campus MartiuS; without the city, and 
passed through the most public places of the 
city to the capitol ; the streets being strewed 
with flowerS; and the altars smokii>g with 
incense. 

Q, What was the order of the procession? 

A, Musicians of various kinds went before ; 
the oxen destined for the sacrifice next fol- 
lowed, having their horns gilt, and their heads 
adorned with garlands ; then in carriages 
were brought the spoils taken from the 
enemy, statues, pictures, plate, armor, &c., 
with the titles of the vanquished nations, and 
their images or representation. 

Q. What next followed ? 

A, The spoils were succeeded by the cap- 
tive kings or leaders, with their children and 
attendants ; after the captives came the lictors, 
^having their fasces wreathed with laurel, fol- 
lowed by a great company of musicians and 
dancers, dressed like satyrs, and wearing 
golden crowns ; and next came a long train 
of persons carrying perfumes. 

Q. What was the next part of the proces- 
sion? 

A, After these came the triumphant gen- 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. ^5 

eral clothed in purple^ embrQidered with gold, 
with a crown of laurel upon his head, a 
branch of laurel in his right hand, and in'his 
left an ivory sceptre with an eagle on the top ; 
the general's face was painted with vermih 
ion, and a gold ball hung from his neck on 
his breast. 

T. Describe the triumphal car and its at- 
tendants. 

P. The chariot in which the triumphant 
general stood was gilt, adorned with ivory, 
and drawn by four white horses abreast, or 
sometimes by elephants; that he might not 
be too much elated, a slave stood behind him., 
who frequently whispered in his ear — Re- 
member thou art a man. 

Q, What closed the procession? 

A. The general was attended by his rela- 
tions and a great crowd of citizens, all in 
white; after his car followed the consuls and 
senators ; and last came the victorious army 
crowned with laurel, decorated with the gifts 
which they had received for their valor, and 
singing the general's praises, in which the 
citizens as they passed along also joined. 



96 CATECHISM OF 



CHAPTER III. 

Military Affairs continued, 

Q, What were the military punishments 
among the Romans ? 

A. The military punishments were beating 
with rods, slavery, the bastinado with clubs, 
which last was usually fatal, as the offender 
was obliged to run between the soldiers 
drawn up in two ranks, who had liberty to 
kill him if they could ; soldiers were also 
stoned and put to death by different means. 

Q. AVhat were the minor punishments ? 

A. The minor punishments inflicted on the 
Roman soldiers were public shame, degrada- 
tion, giving the delinquent barley instead of 
wheat, taking away his belt, &c. 

Q. What was the pay of the soldiers ? 

A. The Roman soldiers during 350 years 
received no pay ; and when it was granted it 
was no more than 2^d. per day ; but this was 
by degrees increased to 7fd, besides being 
furnished with clothes, and receiving about 
four bushels of corn a month. 

Q, What was the period of the Roman 
service ? 

A. The foot-soldiers were obliged to serve 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 97 

twenty years, and the horse ten ; after which 
time they received an honorable discharge. 

Q. What Avere their principal instruments 
of war? 

A, The chief of these were the movable 
towers, furnished with engines, ladders, &c., 
and moving on wheels, for the purpose of 
being brought near the walls; the most 
dreadful machine, however, was the battering 
rapi. 

T. Describe the battering^ ram. 

P, The battering ram was a long beam, 
like the mast of a ship, and armed at one end 
with iron, in the form of a ram's head ; this 
was hung from a cross-beam, supported by 
strong posts, and being equally balanced was 
first drawn back, and then violently driven 
forward by a number of men ; and thus, by 
repeated strokes, the firmest wall was beaten 
down ? 

Q. What were their other machines ? 

A. The halista threw great stones with a 
force almost equal to that of our cannon ; the 
catapulta threw a great number of very large 
spears and darts with astonishing force and 
velocity ; while the scorpion discharged those 
of a smaller size. 

9 G 



98 CATECHISM OF 



CHAPTEE lY. 

Naval Affairs of the Bomans. 

P Q. What gave rise to the Eoman navy ? 

A, The Eomans, finding from the continual 
depredations to which the coast of Italy was 
subject, that a fleet was necessary for their 
security, began building a number of ships 
of war, taking for their model a Carthagenian 
vessel which was stranded on their coasts, 
having formerly had nothing but boats made 
of thick planks. 

Q. How may the Eoman navy be divided ? 

A, The ships of the Eomans may be di- 
vided into onerariw, ships of burden ; hngse, 
long vessels, or ships of war. 

Q' What were the naves onerariae ? 

A. These Avere vessels which served to 
carry stores, &c. ; they were almost round, 
very deep, and were driven by sails. 

Q. What have you to observe of the ships 
of war? 

A. The ships of war were driven by oars, 
and were denominated by the number of 
banks of oars, one above another, which they 
contained ; thus a ship with three banks of 
oars was called triremis; one with four, quad- 
riremis; &c. 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 99 

Q. What was the usual size of a Roman 
ship ? 

A. The usual rates were of three, four, 
and five banks of oars, for ships of war ; but 
there were others contrived for lightness and 
expedition, which had but one bank of oars 
on each side ; no ships among the Romans 
had more than one mast. 

Q, What do you observe of the ships of 
burden ? 

A. These ships used to have a basket sus- 
pended from the top of the mast as their sign ; 
there was also an ornament at their stern, 
made of wood, like the tail of a fish, from 
which was erected a staff with a ribbon or 
streamer. 

Q. What have you to remark of the ships 
of war? 

A, The ships of war, only, had their prows 
armed with a sharp beak covered with brass, 
which usually had three teeth or points ; with 
this they damaged or sunk the ships of their 
adversaries ? 

Q. What further distinguished these ships ? 

A, The Roman ships of war usually had 
decks, whereas those of burden were (5pen ; 
ships, when about to engage, had towers 
erected on them, who:; :(^. stones and other 
missile weapons were discharged from en- 
gines. 



BOOK IV. 

THE CUSTOMS OF THE ROMANS. 



CHAPTER I. 
The Roman Dress. 

* Q, What were the chief parts of the Ro- 
man dress? 

A, The most distinguished parts of the Ro- 
man dress were the toga and the tunica. 

Q. What was the toga ? 

A, The toga, or gown, was the characteristic 
part of the Roman dress ; it was loose and 
flowing, and covered the whole body ; it had 
no sleeves, and was disposed in graceful folds, 
to give the wearer a majestic appearance. 

Q, Of what color was it ? 

A. The color of the toga is supposed to 
have been the natural whiteness of the wool, 
to distinoruish it from the too'a Candida, worn 
by candidates, and whitened by the fuller. 

Q, By whom was the toga worn ? 

A. The toga was worn by Roman citizens 
only; banished persons and slaves were pro- 

(100) 



CATECHISM OF ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 101 

hibited the use of it ; therefore the Eomans 
were particularly careful in foreign countries 
always to appear dressed in the toga ; the 
mourning toga was of a black or -dark color. 

Q, Were there different kinds of togas or 
gowns ? 

A. Yes ; the toga prsetexta was edged with 
purple, and worn by magistrates ; the toga 
virilis, or manly gown, was assumed by young 
men at the age of 17 ;- the toga ^zc^a pur pur ea^ 
&c., were the robes of State, worn by consuls, 
emperors, &c., and differed very little, except 
in their ornaments. 

Q. What Was the tunica ? 

A. The ancient Eomans wore no other 
clothing but the toga ; afterwards, however, 
they wore under the toga a white woollen vest, 
called tunica, which came down a little below 
the knees before, and to the middle of the 
legs behind, with or without sleeves, and 
fastened tight about the waist by a girdle or 
belt. 

Q. By whom and where was the tunic 
Avorn? 

A. The tunic was the common garment of 
the Eomans, worn by itself within doors, and 
abroad under the toga ; the poor people, who 
could not purchase a toga, wore only a tunic, 
as did also foreigners, slaves, and gladiators. 
9* 



102 CATECHISM OF 

Q. What was the dress of the women ? 

A. The dress of the females consisted of 
the stola^ or ordinary vest, reaching to the 
feet, over which, when they went abroad, 
they threw the palla, a long open gown 
which entirely covered them; they also 
dressed their heads with ribbons and fillets; 
the Roman ladies used ear-rings, necklaces, 
and ornaments for the arms. 

Q, AVhat covering did the Eomans nse for 
the head ? 

A, The ancient Romans went with their 
heads bare, except at sacred rites, games, 
festivals, on journeys, and in war; at games 
and festivals, they wore a woollen cap ; and 
when on a journey, they used a round cap 
like a helmet ; to defend themselves from the 
heat or wind in the city, they merely threw 
over their heads the lappet of their gov/n. 

Q, What were the other parts of the Ro- 
man dress ? 

A, The Romans wore neither stockings 
nor breeches, but used sometimes to wrap 
their legs and thighs with pieces of cloth; 
they had two kinds of coverings for the feet ; 
the calceus, somewhat like our shoes, covered 
the whole foot, and was tied above with a 
lace ; the other was a slipper or sandal, which 
covered only the sole of the foot, and was 
fastened with leathern thongs, or strings. 



m ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. l03 

CHAPTER 11. 

Boman Meals. 

Q. What were the hours at which the Ro- 
mans took their meals ? 

A, The principal meal of the Romans was 
what was called coenaj supper, which took 
place about the ninth hour, or 3 o'clock in 
the afternoon ; before this they took merely 
a little bread, a few raisins or nuts, or a little 
honey. 

Q, What was the usual food of the Romans ? 

A. The ancient Romans lived chiefly on 
pottage, or bread and pot-herbs ; but when 
riches were introduced by their conquests, 
luxury seized all ranks, and everything that 
could gratify the appetite was used. 

Q, What was their usual manner of eating ? 

A, The Romans at first sat at meals; but 
they afterwards reclined on sumptuous couches 
of a semicircular form, with a table of the 
same shape ; but this custom took place only 
at supper, and was not practised* by persons 
under 17 years of age. 

Q. What more have you to observe of their 
meals ? 

A, The Romans at their meals did not use 



104 CATECHtSM OF 

knives and forkS; nor table-cloths ; they usu- 
ally bathed before they ate, and each guest 
brought with him, from home, the table-nap- 
kin, which he used in time of eating to wipe 
his mouth and hands. 

Q. What was their drink ? 

A. The ordinary drink of the Eomans at 
feasts was wine, which they mixed with water, 
and sometimes with aromatics and spices; 
they also used water either cold or warm, and 
had the custom of drinking to the health of 
one another. 



CHAPTEE III. 

Of the Eoman Exercises^ BatliSj Private 
Games, &c. 

Q. What exercise did the Eomans use? 

A. The Eomans, before bathing, exercised 
themselves at tennis, foot-ball, throwing the 
javelin or quoit, and riding, running, leaping, 
&c. ; the boys whirled hoops and spun tops ; 
literary men, for the sake of exercise, used 
to read aloud. 

Q, What do you remark of the Eoman 
baths ? 

A, As the Eomans neither wore linen nor 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 105 

used stockings, frequent bathing became ne- 
cessary; they at first bathed in the Tiber, 
but they soon erected baths both hot and 
cold; they began their bathing with hot 
water, and ended with cold. 

Q, What were their private games ? 

A. The Eomans played with dice similar 
to ours ; but all games of chance were for- 
bidden, and the characters of gamesters were 
held infamous ; they also played at a game 
similar to the modern chess, said to have 
been invented at the siege of Troy. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Boman Marriages and Funerals. 

Q. What ceremonies preceded the Roman 
marriage? 

A, No marriage was celebrated among the 
Romans without first consulting the auspices, 
and ofiering sacrifices to the gods, in which 
the gall of the victim was taken out and 
thrown away, to signify the removal of all 
bitterness from matrimony. 

Q, Where and how was the marriage cere- 
mony performed ? 



106 CATECHISM OP 

A, The marriage ceremony was performedlj 
at the house of the bride's father, or nearest 
relation, by the high priest, in the presence 
of at least ten witnesses, by a set form of l 
words, and by tasting a cake made of salt,, 
water, and flour ; sometimes, instead of this, 
the man and woman delivered a small piece 
of money. 

T. Describe the dress of the bride. 

P. On the wedding-day the bride waa^ 
dressed in a long white robe with a purple 
fringe, bound with a girdle, which the bride- 
groom was to untie; her face Avas covered 
with a red veil; her hair was divided into 
six locks with the point of a spear, andi 
crowned with flowers. 

Q, What were the ceremonies that fol- 
lowed ? 

A. Thus habited, the bride was led in the 
evening to the bridegroom's house by three 
boys whose parents were living; she was 
lighted by five torches, and maid- servants.^ 
followed with a distaff) a spindle, and wool. 

Q. What w^as done on her arrival at the 
house? 

A, On her arrival at the house she bound 
woollen fillets round the door-posts, which i 
were adorned with flowers, and anointed 1 
them with the fat of swine, or wolves, too 
avert infection and enchantment. 



I 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 107 



Q, What ceremonies followed ? 

A. This being done, the bride Avas lifted 
over the threshold ; and, on her entrance, th-e 
keys of the house were delivered to her, a 
sheep's skin was spread under her feet, and 
both she and her husband touched fire and 
water. 

Q. How was the ceremon}^ concluded ? 

A. The marriage ceremony was concluded 
with a feast, at which musicians attended, 
who sung the nuptial song; and the bride- 
groom scattered nuts about the room for boys 
to scramble, intimating that he dropped child- 
ish amusements, and thenceforth was to act 
as a man. 

Q. What have you to observe of the Eo- 
man funerals^ 

A, The funerals of the Eomans were usu- 
ally celebrated with great pomp ; the bodies 
were, either interred or burned ; and they 
paid the greatest attention to funeral rites, 
because they believed that the souls of the 
unburied were not admitted into the abodes 
of the dead. 

Q, How were expiring persons treated ? 

A, When persons were at the point of 
death, their nearest relations endeavored to 
catch their last breath with their mouths, for 
they believed that the soul or living princi- 
ple then went out at the mouth. 



108 CATECHISM OF 

Q. In what manner was the corpse pre-(|[ 
pared for the last duties ? 

A, As soon as the person ,had expired, , 
they pulled off' his rings and closed his eyes ; 
the corpse was bathed with w^rm water, 
anointed with perfumes, and wrapped in the 
best robe of the deceased ; if he had obtained 
a crown for his bravery, it was now placed 
on his head ; and a small coin was put in his . 
mouth, which he might give to Charon, the i 
ferryman of hell. 

Q, What were the other observances ? 

A, The corpse was then laid on a couch 
near the door, with the feet outwards, and a i 
branch of cypress was placed in the front of 
the house ; the body was usually kept seven 
or eight days, with some one to^watch it. 

T. Describe the funeral procession. 

P. On the day of the funeral, when the 
people were assembled, the dead body was 
carried out with the feet foremost, on a couch 
covered with rich cloth, supported, com- 
monly, on the shoulders of the nearest rela- 
tions ; funerals were anciently celebrated by 
torchlight; but in after ages, early in the: 



Q, What was the order of the proces- 

n? 

A. First, musicians of various kinds went . 



sion? 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 109 

before ; then followed mourning Avomen, 
hired to sing the funeral song; after these 
came players and buffoons, who danced -and 
sung of him ; next his free-men, with caps 
on their heads ; before the corpse were car- 
ried the images of the deceased and his an- 
cestors. 

T, Describe the rest of the procession. 

P, In this part of the procession were dis- 
played the crowns and rewards he had re- 
ceived for his valor, the spoils and standards 
he had taken from the enemy, &c. ; then came 
the lictors, with their fasces reversed ; and 
next the body, followed by relations and 
friends, beating their breasts, and showing 
every appearance of extravagant grief. 

T, Describe the last ceremonies performed 
to the body. 

P, On the arrival of the procession at the 
appointed place, an oration was announced 
in praise of the deceased, the body was then 
placed on the funeral pile, and the nearest 
relations, after kissing the body with tears, 
set fire to the pile. 

Q, What was done while the funeral pile 
was bujning ? 

A. When the pile was kindled, they threw 
upon it various perfumes, and everything 
that was supposed to be agreeable to the de- 
10 



110 CATECHISM OP 

ceased when alive ; animals and slaves were 
in ancient times slaughtered and thrown into 
the pile ; afterwards gladiators were made tQ 
fight at funerals, as the manes were supposed 
to be delighted with blood. 

Q. How were the remains collected ? 

A. AVhen the whole pile was burnt, the 
embers were soaked with wine, the bones 
and ashe^ were gathered by the nearest rela- 
tions, and being sprinkled with the richest 
perfumes, were placed in an urn. 

Q. What were the ceremonies at a burial? 

A. The procession was similar to that 
already described ; the body was put into a 
stone coffin with all its ornaments, and de- 
posited in a sepulchre; after which, those 
present were three times sprinkled by a 
priest, with pure water from a branch of 
olive or laurel, to purify them. 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. Ill 



CHAPTER V. 

Names, Coins, Weights, and Measures. 

Q, What names had the Eomans ? 

A. To mark the different clans and fami- 
lies, and the individuals of the same family, 
the Romans had commonly three names: the 
prsenomen, nomen, and cognomen, » 

T, Explain the meaning of these names. 

P, The prsenomen was placed first, and 
marked the individual, answering to our 
Christian name ; the nomen was after the 
prdenomen, and marked the gens or clan ; the 
cognomen was put last, and corresponded with 
our sirname, as it denoted the family. 

T. Give an explanation of a Roman name. 

P. In Publius Cornelius Scipio, Puhlius is 
the prsenomen^ Cornelius the nomen, and Scipio 
the cognomen; sometimes a fourth name, 
called the agnomen, was added from some 
illustrious action; thus Scipio was named 
Africanus, from his conquest of Carthage and 
Africa. 

Q, What have you to observe of the Ro- 
man money ? 

A. The Romans had at first no coined 
money, but either exchanged commodities 



112 CATECHISM OP 

with one another; or used a certain weight of 
uncoined metal ; about 200 years elapsed be- 
fore they had even brass coin; and silver 
was first stamped 484 years after the' build- 
ing of the city. 

Q. What were the brass coins of the Eo- 
mans? 

A, These were the as, which originally 
weighed one pound, but was by degrees re- 
duced to half an ounce ; it had on one side 
the image of Janus, and on the other the 
beak of a ship ; its value was about three far- 
things of our money. The semis was half an 
as ; the triens, one-third ; the quadrans, one- 
fourth : these had on them the impression of 
a boat. 

Q. AVhat were their silver coins ? 

A. The silver coins were the danariuSj 
value 10 ases, or about 14 cents, marked with 
the letter X; qiiinariuSj worth 5 ases, and 
marked V ; the sestertius was half a quinarius. 
There were also silver coins of less value, as 
lihella, worth an as; semhella, whose value 
was half an as ; and terunciuSj one-quarter. 

Q. What was the value of the Eoman gold 
coins ? 

A. The old aureus was worth 25 denarii, 
or 4 dollars and 5 cents ; the new, being in- 
ferior in weight and beauty, was worth only 
3 dollars and 33 cents. 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. llS 

Q. What sums were principally in use ? 

A, The sums principally in use among the 
Eomans were the sestertium, the libra, and the 
talent. The sestertium was worth 35 dollars and 
.87 cents; the libra contained 12 ounces of sil- 
ver, and was worth 13 dollars and 33 cents ; 
the talent, nearly 858 dollars. 

Q, What were the Eoman weights ? 

A. The principal Eoman weight Av^as as, or 
libra, a pound, which was divided into 12 
ounces avoirdupois. 

Q. What were the Eoman measures of 
length ? 

A, The Eomans measured length or dis- 
tance by feet, cubits, paces, stadia, and miles. • 

T. Describe their different lengths. 

P. The Eoman foot was the same as ours, 
and divided into 12 inches or 16 digits; 
the cubit was equal to a foot and a half ; a 
pace was reckoned equal to five feet; 126 
paces, or 625 feet, made a stadium, or furlong ; 
and eight stadia, 1000 paces, or 5000 feet, a 
mile. 

Q. What were the measures of quantity ? 

A, Their chief measure was the amphora, 
nearly equal to 9 gallons English, 20 of 
which went to their greatest liquid measure, 
called caleus. There were also the congius, the 
eighth of an amphora; the sextarius, equal 
10^ H 



114 CATECHISM 04» 

to one pint and a half Englisli ; and the cya- 
thus, which was as much as one conld easily 
swallow at once. 

Q, AVhat were their measures for dry goods? 

A, Modius was the chief measure for things 
dry, which was somewhat more than a peck 
English ; six modii were called medimnus. 



CHAPTBE VL 

Houses^ Villas^ Carriages^ and Agriculture of the 
Bomans. 

Q, What AYcre the original houses of the 
Romans ? 

A, The houses of the Eomans were at first 
cottages thatched Avith straw ; after the city 
was burned by the Gauls, it was rebuilt, 
chiefly of wood, but without attention to the 
regularity of the streets, every one building 
in what part he chose ? 

Q. When did the city begin to be beau- 
tified? 

A. In the reign of Augustus, Rome first 
began to be adorned with magnificent struc- 
tures, yet many houses were still of wood ; 
and it was not till two-thirds of the city was 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 115 

burned to the ground, in the time of Nero, 
that the streets were made straight and 
broader, and the height of- the houses was 
restricted to 70 feet. 

Q. What were the principal parts of a 
Eoman house ? 

A. The principal parts Avere the vestibulum, 
or court before the gate ; the aulxij or hall; an 
open space in the centre of the house, which 
admitted light from above ; and the sleeping 
apartments. 

Q. What have you to observe of the 
gate ? 

A. The 2:ate was raised and had an ascent 
of steps; a slave watched it, armed with a 
staff; and attended by a dog ; knockers and 
bells were fixed to it as with us. 

T. Describe the hall. 

P, The hall was long, surrounded with 
arched galleries, and supported on pillars; 
here the family took their meals. It was 
adorned with pictures, statues, and other val- 
uables of the family. 

Q, What else have you to remark of the 
Roman houses ? 

A, The Eoman houses were coVered with 
tiles, and had only openings in the walls to 
admit the light, covered with two folding 
leaves of wood, or with a net. Under the 



116 CATECHISM OF 

first emperorS; windows were made of a 
transparent stone, which might be slit like 
slate ; they used also paper, linen cloth, and 
horn. 

Q. Had the Eomans any chimneys ? 

A. The ancients had no chimneys, and 
were therefore much infested with smoke; 
their chief fire was near the gate on the 
hearth, from which embers were carried to 
the different apartments ; they burned wood 
carefully dried and anointed with the lees of 
oil, to prevent smoke, 

Q, What was a Eoman villa? 

A. Villa at first only denoted a farm- 
house; but when luxury was introduced 
among the Eomans, it denoted a number of 
buildings fit for the accommodation of a Eo- 
man family. 

Q. "What was remarkable of these villas ? 

A, They were divided into three parts: 
namely, the town, country, and store houses ; 
the first part contained the family ; the 
second the slaves, workmen, and cattle ; and 
the third was the barns, granaries, wine and 
oil cellars, &c. In the upper part of every 
villa was ^ supper-room, where the guests, 
while reclining at table, might enjoy a pleas- 
ant prospect . 

Q. Were the Eomans fond of gardening ? 



ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 117 

A, The Eomans were uncommonly fond 
of gardeiis, and noble families were denomi- 
nated from the cultivation of certain kinds 
of puls'e and lettuce. 

T. Describe their gardens. 

P. In ancient times the garden was chiefly 
stored with fruit-trees and pot-herbs, but 
afterwards the chief attentioii was paid to 
shady trees, aromatic plants, flowers, and 
evergreens, which were ornamentally cut, 
and twisted into various figures ; they were 
adorned with the most beautiful statues. 

Q, Was agriculture esteemed among the 
Eomans ? 

A, The ancient Eomans were so devoted 
to agriculture, that their most illustrious 
commanders were sometimes called from the 
plough ; each citizen had an equal quantity 
of land allotted to him, which he cultivated 
himself, till riches and luxury increased, 
and then part was frequently let for a cer- 
tain rent. 

Q, What were the principal instruments 
used in tillage? 

A, The Eomans used the plough ; it was 
drawn by oxen, but its form is not known ; 
they used the spade in the garden and vine- 
yards, and anciently in corn-fields ; a plank 
with several teeth, drawn by oxen, to pull 



118 CATECHISM OP ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. 

roots out of the earth; a rake, and a hoe, 
formed the chief implements in Eoman til- 
lage. 

Q. What were their chief objects of culti- 
vation ? 

A, The grain chiefly cultivated by the 
Romans was wheat; they had also barley, 
oats, and different kinds of pulse, as beans, 
peas, lupines, kidney-beans, lentils, vetches, 
iScc. ; their manner of preparing hay was 
nearly similar to ours. 

Q. What carriages were in use among the 
Romans? 

A. The Romans used the sedan, and the 
couch or litter, in which they were carried 
about by slaves; they had also carriages 
drawn by two, three, and four horses; and 
one with two wheels, drawn by three mules, 
for travelling expeditiously. 

Q. What have you to observe of their car- 
riages ? 

A. The Romans painted their carriages 
with various colors, and decorated them with 
gold, silver, and precious stones ; besides the 
animals we employ, they sometimes yoked 
elephants, and even lions, dogs, and deers; 
the drivers were , frequently dressed in red, 
and excited their horses by the whip, goad, 
or spur. 



A Table of the Kalends^ JSfones^ and Ides. 



Days 

of the 
Month. 


April, June, 
Sept., Nov. 


Jan., August, 
December. 


March, May, 
July, Oct. 


February. 


1 


B^alendse. 


Kalcndoe. 


Kalendce. 


Kalendas. 


2 


IV. 


IV. 


VI. 


IV. 


3 


III. 


III. 


V. 


III. 


4 


Prid. Non. 


Prid. Non. 


IV. 


Prid. Non. 


6 


Nonas., 


Non 93 


III. 


Nonae. 


6 


VIII. 


vin. 


Prid. Non. 


VIII. 


7 


VII. 


VII. 


Nonse. 


VII. 


8 


VI. 


VI. 


VIII. 


VI. 


9 


V. 


V. 


VII. 


V. 


10 


IV. 


IV. 


VI. 


IV. 


11 


III. 


III. 


V. 


III. 


12 


Prid. Id. 


Prid. Id. 


IV. 


.Prid. Id. ' 


13 


Idus. 


Idus. 


III. 


Idus. 


14 


XVIII. 


XIX. 


Prid. Id. 


XVI. 


15 


XVII. 


XVIII. 


Idus. 


XV. 


16 


XVI. 


XVII. 


XVII. 


XIV. 


17 


XV. 


XVI. 


XVI. 


XIIL 


18 


XIV. 


XV. 


XV. 


XII. 


19 


XIII. 


XIV. 


XIV. 


XI. 


20 


XII. 


XIII. 


XIII. 


X. 


21 


XI. 


XII. 


XII. 


IX. 


22 


X. 


XL 


XI. 


VIII. 


23 


IX. 


X. 


X. 


vn. 


24 


VIII. 


IX. 


IX. 


VI. 


25 


VII. 


VIII. 


VIII. 


V. 


26 


VI. 


VII. 


VII. 


IV. 


27 


V. 


VI. 


VI. 


III. 


28 


IV. 


V. 


V. 


Prid. Kal. 


29 


III. 


IV. 


IV. 


Martii. 


30 


Prid. Kal. 


III. 


III. 




31 


Mens. seq. 


Prid. Kal. 
Mens. seq. 


Prid. Kal. 
Mens. seq. 





(119) 



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